UC-NRLF 


3D    31D 


HS 


A  MANUAL 


OF  THE 


AND    . 


1 


FORAGE  PLANT'S 


AT    THE    SOUTH. 


SECOND  EDITION,  RE VISED  AND  ENLARGED. 


BY 


C.    W.    HOWARD 


.For  .^rt/e  by  the  Author,  Kingston, 


CHARLESTON 
WALKER,    EVANS    &    CO( 

NOP.  3  BROAD  AND  109  E 
1875. 


of 


!F>  IR,  E3  E1  .A.  0  El . 


The  rapid  exhaustion  of  the  first  edition  of  two  thousand  copies  of  this 
little  manual  has  emboldened  me  to  offer  another  edition,  revised  and 
enlarged.  It  has  been  bought  by  farmers  and  others  in  all  the  Southern 
States,  from  Virginia  to  Texas  inclusive.  One  business  firm  in  North  Caroli- 
na has  already  distributed  one  hundred  copies  of  the  former  edition  gratui- 
tously among  its  customers,  and  has  ordered  in  advance  five  hundred  copies 
of  this  edition  for  the  same  purpose. 

Such  results  are  gratifying  to  me  in  a  double  sense.  First,  as  indicating  a 
kindly  appreciation  of  my  humble  efforts.  Second,  as  offering  evidence  of  an 
increased  attention  in  the  South  to  a  diversified  agriculture. 

The  conviction  is  daily  strengthening  in  my  mind  that  we  shall  not  attain 
agricultural  prosperity  until  exclusive  cotton  culture  is  abandoned,  and  we 
learn  to  make  a  large  proportion  of  our  soil  productive  without  labor.  This 
result  can  be  accomplished  only  by  the  culture  of  the  grasses,  whether  native 
or  artificial.  In  hope  of  aiding  in  this  "consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished 
for,"  this  second  edition  is  issued. 

C.  VV.  HOWARD. 

SPRING  BANK,  NEAR  KINGSTON,  GA. 


Page. 

Introduction 1 

The  Importance  of  the  Subject 1 

The  Greatest.  Crop  in  the  World 4 

Will  the  Cultivated  Grasses   and   Forage 

Plants  Grow  at  the  South? 4 

Drawbacks 5 

Forage  Plants » 7 

Lucerne 7 

Indian  Corn 9 

The  Field  Pea 9 

The  Vetch 9 

Ribwort,  or  Narrow-leaved  Plantain 10 

The  Oat  as  a  Forage  Plant 10 

Red  Clover 10 

Uses  of  Red  Clover 11 

Hay 11 

Seed 11 

Pasture 11 

An  Improver  of  Land 11 

Crimson  Clover 12 

Alsike  Clover 12 

White  Clover 12 

Millet 1'2 

Guinea  Grass 12 

Native  Grasses 13 

Gamma  Grass 14 

Crab  and  Crow-foot  Glasses 14 

Bromus — Brome    Grass — Rescue    Grass — 

Cheat,  or  Chess  14 

Bermuda  Grass — Cynodon  Dactolon 15 

Winter  Grasses 18 

Meadow-Oat  Grass 18 

Orchard  Grass 19 

Italian  Rye  Grass 19 


Page. 

Blue-Grass 19 

Hay  Grasses 20 

Timothy 20 

Herd's  Grass 21 

Time  of  Sowing  Grass  Seeds "21 

Sowing  with  or  without  Grain 2* 

Whether  it  is  best  to  sow  a  variety  of  Grass    i 

Seeds 22 

Proper  Mixture  of  Grass  Seeds  for  differ- 
ent purposes *_>2 

Grass  Seeds  for  Meadow  Land 22 

For  Summer  Pastures 22 

For  Winter  Pasture 22" 

For  Early  Spring  Soiling 23 

Selection  of  Seeds — Buying  by  weight  or 

measure,  with  a  table  of  weights 23 

After-treatment  of  Grass  Land 23 

Manures  for  Grass  Land 24 

Whether  to  sell  Hay  or  to  feed  it 24 

Improved  Implements  for  Saving  Hay 25 

Raising  Grass  Seed  for  sale 25 

Woods  Pastures 26 

Nutritive  value  of  the  Grasses 26 

Analysis   of  Natural    Grasses— (100  parts 

as  taken  green  from  the  field) 27 

Analysis  of  Natural  Grasses — (100  parts  of 

the  grasses  dried  at  212°  Fahr 27 

Analysis  of  Artificial  Grasses — (100  parts 

as  taken  from  the  field) . 28 

Analysis    of    Artificial    Grasses— (in    100 

parts  of  the  grass  dried  at  212°  Fahr.). ..28 
Suggestions  as  to  the  selection  of  a  Grass 

or  Stock  Farm 29 

Conclusion ....29 


OF  THE 


GRASSES  AND  FORAGE  PLANTS 


AT    THE    SOUTH.* 


This  manual  has  been  written  at  the  re- 
quest of  a  number  of  persona  to  whom  the 
subject  of  which  it  treats  is  practically  new, 
and  who  are  without  experience  in  regard  to 
it.  This  class  of  persons  say  that  the  usual 
articles  written  in  books,  or  in  agricultural 
papers,  by  those  who  understand  the  subject, 
are  too  general,  taking  too  much  for  granted 
as  to  the  knowledge  of  those  whom  the  ar- 
ticles are  designed  to  benefit.  They  desire 
instruction  as  to  the  minutest  details.  This 
minute  instruction  the  writer  will  attempt  to 
afford.  He  begs  that  the  purpose  of  this 
manual  will  be  borne  in  mind  by  those  who 
are  familiar  with  grass  culture,  and  who  might 
otherwise  think  the  attention  to  details  un- 
necessary and  wearisome.  It  is  written  not 
for  the  informed,  but  the  uninformed  reader. 

The  ignorance  referred  to  should  really  not 
occasion  surprise,  although  occurring  among 
intelligent  men  The  present  race  of  planters 
has  grown  up  in  a  condition  of  things  which 
looked  to  cotton  as  the  sole  market  crop.  The 
deadliest  enemy  of  cotton  is  grass.  They  have 
therefore  been  accustomed  to  regard  it  as  a 
pest,  to  be  extirpated  with  slave  labor.  It  was 
so  easy  and  pleasant  to  make  money  that  the 
cotton  planter  did  not  care  to  inquire  how  the 
rest  of  the  world  were  managing  their  lands. 
As  he  commanded  his  own  labor,  which  was 
movable  at  his  pleasure,  and  as  lands  were 
cheap,  it  was  not  material  if  he  exhausted  the 
soil.  It  was  a  very  easy  matter  to  buy  and 
clear  more  lands,  for  which  sometimes  the 
first  cotton  crop  paid. 

But  things  are  very  different  now  He  has 
no  money  with  which  to  buy  new  land.  If 


*Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  by  C.  W. 
Howard,  in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress, 
at  Washington,  D.  C. 


he  had  the  money  to  buy  it,  he  could  not  pay 
hands  to  clear  it.  And  if  he  could  pay  them, 
the  work  of  clearing  is  too  heavy  for  the  in- 
dolent free  negro.  It  is  almost  impossible  to 
induce  him  to  split  a  rail 

The  planter's  land,  which  is  now  his  only 
capital,  is  worn.  Only  in  exceptional  cases  has 
it  been  found  profitable  to  make  cotton  with 
hired  negro  labor.  This  compels  him  to  in- 
quire into  some  other  method  than  exclusive 
cotton  planting,  by  which  to  turn  his  land  to 
valuable  account  As  a  result  of  this  inquiry, 
he  finds  in  agricultural  books  and  papers 
much  said  about  the  cultivation  of  the  grasses 
— that  great  attention  is  paid  to  them  in  coun- 
tries in  which  agriculture  most  flourishes,  and 
to  his  amazement  he  learns  that  the  hay  crop 
even  of  this  country  alone,  exceeds  the  value 
of  the  cotton  crop  by  some  fifty  or  sixty  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  He  therefore  desires  natu- 
rally to  be  informed  as  to  this  crop,  and  all 
the  details  of  its  management.  It  is  proper 
that  we  should  fully  discuss  in  the  first  place, 
as  a  preliminary, 

THE  IMPORTANCE   OF   THE  SUBJECT. 

In  the  plantation  States,  land  to  a  great  ex- 
tent is  almost  unsaleable,  or  saleable^at  a  very 
low  price.  In  some  cases  this  low  price  is  due 
to  the  effects  of  the  war.  For  instance  the 
rice  lands  which  before  the  war  commanded 
from  $150  to  $300  per  acre,  are  now  com- 
paratively valueless.  The  same  result  ^has 
followed  in  the  case  of  the  rich  Mississippi 
bottom  lands,  which  were  worth  $40  to  $50 
per  acre. 

These  high  prices  of  lands  were  excep- 
tional instances.  Before  the  war,  the  average 
value  of  lauds  was  very  low.  In  the  State  of 
Georgia,  with  which  the  writer  is  most  farnil- 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


iar,  the  highest  average  of  land  in  any  one 
county  was  $10  per  acre,  while  the  lowest  was 
less  than  one  dollar  per  acre.  The  average  of 
Georgia  probably  quite  equalled  that  of  any 
other  cotton  State.  The  good  cotton  lands  of 
southwestern  Georgia  were  worth  frorn  $10 
to$30per  acre.  Now,  they  would  not  command 
one-half  that  price.  It  is  a  significant  fact, 
that  the  rich  lands  in  upper  Georgia,  in  which 
a  mixed  husbandry  prevails,  have  rather  in- 
creased than  decreased  since  the  war  in  value. 
Let  the  fact  be  pondered  that  the  depression 
in  price  has  occurred  only  in  lands  devoted  to  ex- 
clusive cotton  and  rice  culture,  both  of  which 
require  a  large  amount  of  labor. 

A  planter  owning  one  thousand  acres  of  fair 
average  land  in  the  healthy  portion  of  the 
cotton  States  is  a  poor  man.  He  could  not 
sell  his  land  probably  for  more  than  $5,000- 
He  looks  to  the  North  and  finds  land  ranging 
from  $50  to  $200  per  acre.  He  looks  to 
England,  Holland  or  Belgium,  and  finds  it 
averaging  from  $300  to  $500  per  acre.  Why 
this  difference  ?  Is  the  land  in  these  countries 
better  than  ours  ?  Not  by  nature — if  it  be 
better  it  is  by  the  difference  in  treatment.  Is 
their  climate  better  than  ours  ?  The  acknowl- 
edged superiority  is  on  our  side.  Are  the 
prices  of  their  products  any  better  than  ours  ?  j 
On  an  average  not  so  good.  Are  their  taxes 
lighter  than  ours  ?  If  we  were  compelled  to 
pay  their  tax,  either  at  the  North  or  in  Eng- 
land, our  land  would  »t  once  be  sold  for  taxes. 
Have  they  valuable  crops  which  they  can 
raise,  and'  which  we  cannot  raise  ?  There  is 
notafarm  product  in  either  Old  or  New  Eng- 
land which  we  cannot  raise  in  equal  perfection 
at  the  South.  Is  their  labor  cheaper  than 
ours?  The  cost  of  labor  at  the  North  nearly 
doubles  the  cost  of  labor  at  the  South.  In 
England  labor  is  cheaper  than  with  us.  But 
the  difference  is  perhaps  compensated  by  the 
poor  and  church  rates,  and  other  excessive 
taxes  paid  by  the  English  farmer. 

If  then  our  climate  is  as  good  as  that  of  the 
countries  referred  to,  if  our  land  is  as  good  as 
theirs,  if  our  products  bring  as  good  prices,  if 
our  taxes  are  much  lighter,  if  we  can  grow  all 
the  crops  that  they  grow,  if  labor  is  cheaper 
with  us  than  it  is  at  the  North,  and  if  differ- 
ence in  taxes  compensates  for  the  cheapness  of 
labor  in  England,  why  is  it  that  their  land  is 
so  valuable  and  ours  so  valueless  ? 

We  shall  find  the  map  of  use  to  us  in  an- 
swering this  question.  If  we  take  the  map  of 
the  United  States,  and  put  our  finger  upon  the 
States  or  parts  of  States  in  which  land  sells  at 
the  highest  price,  we  shall  find  that  in  those 
States  or  parts  of  States  the  greatest  attention 
is  paid  to  the  cultivation  of  the  grasses  and 
forage  plants.  If  we  open  the  map  of  Europe 
we  shall  find  the  same  rule  holds  good.  The 
cheapest  lands  in  Europe  are  those  of  Spain, 
where  little  attention  is  paid  to  the  grasses. 
The  value  of  land  rises  exactly  in  proportion 


to"  '"the  attention  which  is  given  to  them,  in 
England  and  Holland  reaching  sometimes  for 
farming  purposes  to  $1,000  per  acre.  Holland 
is  almost  a  continuous  meadow.  This  land 
value  culminates  in  Lombardy,  where  irrigated 
meadow  lands  rent  for  $60  to  $100  per  acre. 
Without  exception,  in  Europe  and  America, 
where  a  large  portion  of  land  is  in  grass  or 
forage  crops,  the  price  of  land  is  high,  reach- 
ing the  figures  above  mentioned.  On  the  other 
hand,  without  exception,  wherever  in  either 
continent  the  grasses  do  not  receive  this  atten- 
tion, landed  estate  is  comparatively  of  low 
value.  Now,  when  in  the  investigation  of  the 
cause  of  a  given  effect,  we  find  in  a  number 
of  instances  in  which  the  result  occurs,  the 
presence  uniformly  of  a  particular  agent,  and 
in  a  number  of  similar  instances  in  which  the 
result  does  not  occur,  we  find  this  agent  to  be 
absent ;  then  unless  good  reason  to  the  con- 
trary be  given,  we  are  at  liberty  to  attribute  the 
result  to  the  presence  of  this  agent.  The  con- 
clusion is  irresistible  that  a  large  attention  to 
the  cultivated  grasses  is  essential  not  only  to 
improved  agriculture,  but  also  to  a  high  value 
of  landed  estate.  If  there  be  a  flaw  in  this 
reasoning,  the  writer  has  been  unable  to  detect 
it.  Fifteen  years  ago  this  solution  was  offered 
of  the  apparently  anomalous  condition  of  our 
lands,  so  favored  as  to  all  the  elements  of  ag- 
riculture, and  yet  so  ruinously  low  in  saleable 
value.  Time  has  but  strengthened  the  con- 
viction of  its  correctness.  The  argument  is 
strengthened  by  the  consideration  that  ex- 
tended grass  culture  in  any  country  is  an 
index  of  the  existence  of  an  improved  agri- 
culture. Where  this  occurs,  there  must  be 
large  numbers  of  horses  or  mules,  sheep  and 
cattle.  These  produce  an  abundance  of  ma- 
nure. Where  there  is  an  abundance  of  manure 
there  will  be  large  crops.  Where  there  are 
large  crops  land  will  be  valuable.  These 
results  follow  from  the  grass  crop  as  the  first 
cause. 

If  a  farm  of  one  thousand  acres  in  the  heal- 
thy portion  of  the  cotton  belt  were  placed  in 
the  condition  of  an  English  farm,  as  to  the 
quantity  of  meadow  and  pasture  of  the  culti- 
vated grasses,  and  which  would  now  sell  for 
not  more  than  $5,000,  it  would  become  intrin- 
sically worth  $100  per  acre.  At  a  low  esti- 
mate it  would  afford  annually  a  net  yield  of 
$10  per  acre,  or  $10,000.  This  is  ten  per 
cent,  on  $100,000.  The  owner  would  be  very 
foolish  to-ftell  a  property  yielding  this  income 
for  that  price.  The  difference  between  the 
present  and  practicable  condition  of  the  same 
farm  of  one  thousand  acres  is  the  difference 
to  the  owner  between  $5,000  and  $100,000 

But  it  may  be  asked,  would  it  not  cost  the 
$100  per  acre  to  bring  this  farm  np  to  this  es- 
timated value  ?  By  no  mea.is.  It  is  true  that 
the  land  must  be  made  rich  by  manure,  and 
that  this  manure  costs  heavily.  But  it  may  be 
applied  to  cotton  or  wheat,  and  the  expense  of 


Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


the  manure  be  thus  defrayed  The  same  ma- 
nure will  answer  for  the  following  grass — so 
that  the  actual  cost  is  only  the  grass  seed, 
which  is  comparatively  trifling.  This  result 
as  to  a  whole  farm,  with  our  present  limited 
means,  cannot  be  accomplished  at  once.  But 
it  may  be  done  field  by  field.  If  we  have  one 
hundred  acres  in  cotton  or  wheat,  give  it  such 
a  manuring  as  will  produce  a  maximum  crop, 
and  leave  a  surplus  of  fertility  in  the  soil. 
This  may  be  held  there  and  made  the  basis  of 
a  steadily-increasing  fertility  by  putting  the 
land  in  clover  or  grass.  This  process  may  be 
annually  repeated  with  different  fields  until 
the  amelioration  has  included  the  whole  farm. 
A  homeopathic  dose  of  manure  in  the  drill  or 
hill  may  favorably  affect  the  growing  crop. 
But  this  is  not  a  process  of  renovation  which 
adds  value  to  land.  To  accomplish  this  re- 
sult, the  whole  field  must  be  made  rich,  and 
afterward  kept  increasingly  rich  by  a  judicious 
rotation  of  which  clover  or  grass  is  an  indis- 
pensable constituent. 

The  inquirer  desires  to  know  how  putting 
a  large  portion  of  a  farm  into  clover  or  grass 
adds  so  much  to  its  value.  Why  would  not 
cotton  or  corn  answer  the  same  purpose  ? 

The  great  advantage  of  investing  money  in 
banking  or  other  secure  stocks  is  that  we  get 
our  dividends  without  labor  on  our  part.  We 
can  get  that  dividend  while  we  are  giving  our 
attention  to  something  else.  Property  is 
valuable  in  proportion  to  its  security  and  the 
smallness  of  the  cost  and  trouble  of  managing 
it.  If  we  cultivate  cotton  or  corn  largely,  we 
must  hire  hands  and  buy  mules,  corn,  hay, 
bacon,  and  pay  blacksmith's  bills.  If  at  the 
end  of  the  year  these  expenses  overrun  the 
sales,  then  the  land  has  been  worth  worse  than 
nothing  to  us.  And  if  this  process  was  to  be 
repeated  it  would  be  wise  in  us  to  give  it 
away.  If  there  should  be  a  small  profit  after 
all  our  expense  and  trouble,  then  the  land 
has  a  small  value  to  us,  to  be  determined  by 
our  net  receipt  from  it.  But  if  we  put  down 
the  same  piece  of  land  in  grass,  this  is  done 
for  a  term  of  years.  If  this  land  yields  only 
a  ton  of  hay  to  the  acre,  and  if  its  saleable 
value  be  only  $20  per  ton,  and  expenses  $5, 
we  have  a  net  profit  of  $15  per  acre,  which  is 
ten  per  cent,  on  $150,  the  actual  value  of  the 
land  to  the  owner.  The  only  labor  in  this 
case  is  the  cutting,  curing  and  baling  the  hay. 
With  a  horse-mower,  tedder,  rake  and  hay 
lifter,  this  expense  is  not  more  than  two 
dollars  per  ton. 

On  a  Belgian  farm  of  one  hundred  acres, 
every  acre  of  which  yields  an  income,  the 
steady  force  is  not  more  than  two  hands — 
extra  labor  being  required  at  grain  and  hay 
harvest.  The  Belgian  or  English  farm  of  one 
thousand  acres,  under  cultivation,  would  re- 
quire twenty  hands.  The  cotton  plantation 
of  one  thousand  acres  with  the  usual  propor- 
tion of  cotton  and  corn  would  require  sixty 


hands,  being  an  excess  of  forty  hands.  In 
addition,  in  the  one  instance,  capital  is  di- 
minished by  exhaustion  of  the  soil — in  the- 
other  its  fertility,  and,  therefore,  its  value,  ia 
increased. 

A  Belgian  gentleman,  who  sold  his  land  in 
Belgium  for  $500  per  acre,  and  bought  river 
bottom  land  in  Floyd  County,  Georgia,  at 
$20  per  acre,  told  the  writer  that  he  made 
more  on  the  Belgian  farm,  valuing  it  at 
$500  per  acre,  under  the  Belgian  system,  than 
he  did  on  the  Georgia  land  at  $20  the  acre, 
under  the  Georgia  system  of  cotton  and  corn. 
He  even  believed  that  clover  and  grass  would 
not  grow  in  Georgia,  and,  therefore,  did  not 
attempt  the  Belgian  system,  and  fell  in  with 
the  Georgia  practice. 

What  is  the  difference  between  the  Southern 
plantation  and  the  Belgian  farm  ?  It  is  this  : 
Two-thirds  of  the  latter  yields  a  handsome 
return  without  labor,  while  not  an  acre  of  the 
former  pays  a  cent  without  the  use  of  costly 
labor. 

There  are  hundreds  of  cotton  planters  who 
have  abandoned  their  plantations  and  entered 
into  commercial  business  in  the  cities.  There 
are  thousands  who  would  do  the  same  thing  if 
they  could  sell  their  lands  even  for  a  pittance. 
Why  is  this  ?  They  cannot  endure  the  vexa- 
tion and  the  expensive  and  unreliable  labor  of 
the  cotton  plantation.  They  are  disgusted 
with  it.  It  is  not  the  land,  or  the  seasons,  or 
the  markets,  but  the  labor  which  they  think  it 
is  necessary  to  use  to  excess.  As  a  conse- 
quence Southern  cotton  lands,  already  ruin- 
ously cheap,  are  falling  daily  in  price. 

Now,  suppose  a  system  were  adopted,  by 
which,  while  all  the  open  land  yielded  an  in- 
come, only  a  third  of  the  present  labor  was 
used.  This  would  give  power  of  selection 
among  the  blacks  ;  character  among  them 
would  become  valuable.  The  quality  of  the 
diminished  labor  which  the  planter  would  still 
be  compelled  to  use  would  be  improved.  But 
the  great  point  gained  would  be  that  by  far 
the  larger  portion  of  the  land  would  give  an 
annual  return,  with  scarcely  an  appreciable 
amount  of  labor. 

Any  sensible  person  can  see  at  once  what 
the  effect  of  this  change  would  be  upon  the 
value  and  price  of  land.  Men  who  have  been 
worn  down  by  the  anxiety  of  commercial  life, 
often  think  of  retiring  in  the  decline  of  their 
years  to  the  country.  What  sane  man  would 
think  of  retiring  to  a  cotton  plantation,  to  be 
burdened  with  the  care  of  a  great  gang  of  ne- 
groes? It  would  be  retirement  with  a  ven- 
geance. On  the  other  hand,  to  the  wearied 
business  man  there  is  something  charming  in 
the  thought  of  broad  acres,  a  few  select  labor- 
ers, green  grass,  cool  shades,  running  water, 
thrifty  live  stock,  and  all  the  abundance  of  the 
farm.  If  there  be  poetry  in  this  tkere  is  also 
very  pleasant  and  solid  prose.  A  small,  well 
manured  and  well  cultivated  area  of  land  in 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


cotton  and  the  cereals,  with  a  large  proportion 
in  forage  plants  and  grasses,  would  give  to  the 
cotton  planter  a  pleasure  in  his  business  and 
•an  amount  of  real  profit  which  he  has  never 
before  known. 

But  this  subject  has  been  sufficiently  con- 
sidered. The  importance  of  grass  culture  has 
been  proved  by  reference  to  the  fact,  that 
landed  estate  in  Europe  and  America  sells 
high  or  low  in  proportion  to  the  attention 
given  to  the  cultivated  grasses,  the  human 
pulse  not  being  a  surer  indication  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  human  body.  And  by  these 
grasses  we  are  enabled  to  use  profitably  our 
land  with  comparatively  little  care  and  anx- 
iety on  our  part,  and  the  employment  of  little 
of  our  present  expensive  and  unreliable  labor. 

The  following  condensed  statement  of  the 
value  of  the  grass  and  hay  crop,  extracted 
from  the  Hay,  Straw  and  Grain  Reporter,  will 
be  read  with  interest. 

THE  GREATEST   CROP   IN   THE   WORLD. 

A  question  widely  discussed  involves  the 
relative  value  of  the  wheat,  cotton,  tea,  and 
hay  crops  of  the  world.  Which  of  these  pro- 
ducts employ  the  greatest  amount  of  the 
world's  capital  ?  It  is  said  that  hay  leads  the 
rest,  and  the  items  that  enter  into  the  account 
as  stated  are  somewhat  startling,  and  will 
make  a  Granger's  hair  stand  on  end.  Cotton 
and  tea  are  local  crops,  while  hay  is  produced 
everywhere  the  world  over,  and  thus  the  hay 
crop  greatly  out-weighs  either  of  the  other 
two.  The  aggregate  reported  value  of  all 
farm  products  in  the  United  States  for  1870 
was  $2,447,538,658;  but  as  this  includes  addi- 
tions to  stock,  "  betterments,"  etc.,  it  is  prob- 
ably too'  high.  N  ow  the  hay  crop  for  that 
year — that  is  the  grass  dried  and  cured  for 
use  or  sold — is  reported  at  over  twenty-seven 
million  tons.  This,  at  half  the  selling  price 
in  the  large  cities,  would  amount  to  $405,000,- 
000,  and  is  far  greater  than  the  aggregate 
home  value  of  the  cotton  crop  or  any  other 
•  crop.  But  the  cured  "  hay  "  is  but  a  portion 
of  the  grass  crop.  The  other  portion  is  used 
on  the  ground,  and  it  requires  considerable 
calculation  to  get  at  the  value  so  used,  even 
in  the  roughest  way.  In  the  first  place,  live 
stock,  including  horned  cattle,  horses,  sheep 
swine,  etc.,  to  the  value  of  $1,525,000,000 
were  fed  from  it  that  year.  Averaging  the 
lives  of  these  at  five  years,  we  have  one-fifth 
of  that  sum  as  representing  the  grass  fed  to 
them  in  1870,  viz :  $305,000,000 ;  next  we  find 
the  value  of  the  animals  slaughtered  for 
food  in  that  year  to  be  $309,000,000,  and  as 
this  is  an  annual  product,  the  whole  of  it  will 
for  the  present  be  credited  to  the  grass  crop ; 
next  we  find  that  the  butter  crop  of  1870  was 
five  hundred  and  fourteen  millions  pounds, 
which  at  the  low  average  of  twenty-five  cents, 
amounts  to  $128,000,000,  and  this  goes  to  the 
credit  of  grass ;  next  we  have  two  hundred 


and  thirty-five  million  gallons  of  milk,  which 
averaged  at  the  low  estimate  of  ten  cents  per 
gallon,  adds  $25,000,000  more  to  the  credit  of 
the  grass  crop;  then  we  have  one  hundred 
million  pounds  of  wool  at  twenty-five  cents 
per  pound,  adding  $25,000,000  more;  and, 
finally,  fifty-three  million  pounds  of  cheese 
at  ten  cents,  adding  over  $5,000,000  to  the 
total  credits  to  the  grass  crop  of  1870,  which 
aggregates  $887,000,000.  Now,  let  us  add  the 
value  of  the  *'  hay  "  crop  as  given  above 
—viz :  $405,000,000— and  we  have  a  grand 
total  for  "  hay  "  and  the  products  of  gniss  con- 
sumed on  the  ground  amounting  to  $1,292,- 
000,000 !  This  is,  of  course,  subject  to  deduc- 
tion, as  the  meat,  butter,  milk,  cheese  and  wool- 
producing  animals  consume  other  food  besides 
grass  and  hay.  To  make  ample  allowance  for 
this,  we  deduct  the  entire  value  of  the  corn 
and  oat  crops  of  1870,  estimated  at  $270,000,- 
000,  and  this  leaves  a  remainder  of  $1,082,- 
000,000  to  be  credited  to  the  hay  and  grass 
crop  of  that  year,  when  the  reported  aggregate 
of  all  farm  products  was  $2,447,528,658.  If  our 
estimates  make  even  the  roughest  approach 
to  accuracy,  the  value  of  that  crop  was  two- 
fifths  of  the  aggregate  value  of  all  fa.rm  pro- 
ducts, and  hence  we  may  infer  that  two-fifths 
of  the  capital  then  invested  in  agricultural 
pursuits  was  devoted  to  the  grass  crop,  and 
this  in  the  United  States  equals  (in  round 
numbers)  $4,575,000,000.— Hay,  Straw  and 
Grain  Reporter. 

It  is  proper  now  to  consider  another  impor- 
tant question. 

WILL  THE  CULTIVATED  GRASSES  AND  FORAGE 
PLANTS  GROW  AT  THE  SOUTH  ? 

There  are  some  portions  of  the  South,  as  is 
the  case  in  all  countries,  where  the  valuable 
grasses  will  not  grow.  These  are  those  por- 
tions which  have  been  exhausted  by  long-con- 
tinued and  exhausting  cultivation,  which  are 
naturally  poor,  or  which  contain  an  excessive 
quantity  of  sand. 

If,  however,  it  is  meant  to  inquire  whether 
the  climate  of  the  South  will  prevent  the  suc- 
cessful growth  of  valuable  grasses,  the  answer 
is  given  unhesitatingly  in  the  negative.  Per- 
haps the  only  climate  which  is  superior  to  ours 
in  this  particular  is  that  of  England  and  Ire- 
land, and  others  similarly  situated.  Theirs  is 
a  dripping  climate  all  the  year  round,  and  the 
winters  are  so  rnild  that  the  grass  is  green  the 
whole  year,  so  that  winter  and  summer  the 
farmer  has  the  advantage  of  grazing. 

But  as  compared  with  the  Northern  States 
of  this  country,  the  climate  of  the  South  is 
certainly  better  adapted  to  grass  culture,  if  we 
take  into  consideration  the  whole  year.  At 
the  North,  during  the  whole  winter  and  late 
in  the  spring,  the  ground  is  hard  frozen  or 
covered  with  snow.  Of  course,  during  that 
period  the  grass  is  useless,  and  this  constitutes 
a  large  portion  of  the  year. 


Forage  Plants  at  the  /South. 


The  heats  and  dry  weather  of  the  summer 
are  the  drawbacks  to  grass  culture  at  the 
South.  But  these  affect  summer  pastures  alone. 
They  do  not  affect  the  hay  crop.  This  is  an 
important  consideration.  Clover  and  the  hay 
grasses  are  cut  before  dry  weather  sets  in. 
The  hay  crop  at  the  South  will  not  be  injured 
one  year  in  twenty  by  dry  weather  in  the 
spring.  We  do  not  know  a  country  more  fa- 
vored in  this  particular.  In  England,  while 
the  grass  grows  luxuriantly  in  the  Spring,  it  is 
very  uncertain  whether  there  will  be  enough 
dry  weather  at  the  proper  time  to  save  the  hay. 
Hence  the  preparation  for  hay  harvest  in 
England  are  made  with  a  degree  of  care  and 
anxiety  to  which  we  are  strangers.  If  the 
occasional  sunshine  be  not  used  to  the  utmost 
advantage,  the  crop  is  lost.  We,  on  the  con- 
trary, always  have  rain  enough  in  the  Spring 
to  mature  the  grass,  and  not  enough  rain  to 
render  the  hay  harvest  at  all  precarious. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  when  the  hay  is  cut, 
will  not  the  July  and  August  suns  afterward 
kill  the  grass  ?  There  is  danger  of  this  result 
if  live  stock  are  turned  upon  the  meadow  as 
soon  as  the  hay  is  hauled  out,  and  the  grass 
that  is  left  is  grazed  close  to  the  ground.  A 
meadow  at  the  South  should  never  be  grazed 
during  the  summer.  The  grass  ordinarily 
springs  rapidly  after  it  is  cut,  and  thus  covers 
the  ground  and  protects  the  roots  from  the 
intense  heat  of  the  sun.  This  precaution 
should  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  hope 
to  raise  hay  successfully  at  the  South. 

But  after  the  Fall  rains  set  in  and  cool 
weather  begins,  the  meadows  may  be  mode- 
rately grazed  in  dry,  but  never  in  wet,  weather. 
With  some  grasses  this  grazing  may  be  con- 
tinued during  all  the  dry  weather  of  the  ^win- 
ter, as  they  continue  green. 

This  winter  grazing  is  the  great  advantage 
of  the  South.  It  more  than  compensates  for 
the  drought  and  heat  of  summer.  It  saves  to 
a  considerable  extent  the  cost  of  cutting  and 
curing  hay,  and  of  the  construction  of  expen- 
sive barns.  While  cattle  and  sheep  at  the 
North  are  shut  up  in  great  stone  barns,  costing 
thousands  of  dollars,  for  six  or  eight  months 
of  the  year,  requiring  costly  feed  and  atten- 
tion, the  same  animals  during  the  same  perioc 
at  the  South  might,  on  winter  pastures,  be 
kept  in  equally  good  condition  without  any 
other  expense  than  their  salt  and  the  interest 
on  the  land  upon  which  they  graze.  This  is 
not  mere  theory.  The  writer  has  sold  fa 
Ayrshire  cattle,  fat  enough  to  have  been  ap- 
proved in  Scotland,  which  never  had  tasted  a 
mouthful  of  food,  winter  or  summer,  save 
that  which  they  gathered  for  themselves.  Tht 
reasonable  conclusion  is  that  the  Southerr 
climate,  if  we  consider  the  whole  year,  is  wel 
adapted  to  the  successful  cultivation  of  valu 
able  forage  plants  and  grasses. 

Now  as  to  soil.     Poor  land  in  no  countrj 
will  raise  rich  grass.     But  there  is  a  differ 


ence,  other  things  being  equal,  in  the  natural 
adaptation  of  soils  to  grass.     Sandy  soils  are 
unfavorable  to  it.   This  want  of  natural  adap- 
tation may,  however,  be  compensated  by  extra 
jains  in  preparation   and  manuring.     Tight 
clay  soils  are,  at  the   South,  best  adapted  to 
rass.     Wherever  such  a  soil  is  either  natu- 
rally or  artificially  rich,  grass  will  thrive  in 
t.     Some  of  these  soils  are  unsuited  to  any 
other  crop  from  their  compactness,  unless  it 
e  oats.     For  instance,  what  are  called  "  pipe- 
lay  lands,"  these  will  bring  neither  cotton  nor 
corn  to  advantage,  but  will  produce  excellent 
lerdsgrass.     There  are  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  of  acres  of  this  pipe-clay  land,  now 
.itterly  valueless  to  their  owners,  which  would 
make  fine  herdsgrass  meadows. 

Success  in  grass  culture  is  simply  a  question 
of  food  for  the  plant.  It  must  be  the  food 
which  the  plant  requires.  If  a  horse  has  ever 
so  much  meat  near  him  and  nothing  else, 
tie  will  starve.  If  a  dog  has  a  hay-stack 
within  his  reach  and  nothing  else,  he  also 
will  starve.  Plants  have  their  likes  and  dis- 
likes in  the  way  of  food  as  decidedly  as 
animals.  Land  may  bring  a  bag  of  cotton  to 
the  acre,  and  yet  be  poor  grass  land.  On  the 
contrary,  land  may  be  well  adapted  to  grass, 
which  is  unsuited  for  cotton.  Lands,  in  their 
virgin  state,  abounding  in  the  salts  useful  in 
general  agriculture  almost  to  excess,  will  pro- 
duce a  great  variety  of  crops.  From  this 
virgin  affluence  plants  have  an  opportunity  of 
selecting  their  appropriate  food  But  when 
these  salts  have  been  consumed  or  washed 
away,  when  we  plant  a  crop  of  any  kind  we 
must  put  back  the  specialty  in  the  way  of  food 
which  is  required  by  that  particular  crop. 
Therefore,  if  we  wish  to  sow  clover  on  land 
which  has  been  deprived  of  phosphate  of  lime 
and  potash  we  must  replace  them.  If  we  wish 
to  sow  grass,  we  must  replace  ammonia  and 
potash.  Perhaps  the  following  general  rule 
will  prove  an  useful  guide :  Any  land  that 
will  bring  good  wheat  will  bring  good  clover, 
and  any  land  that  will  bring  good  oats,  will 
bring  good  grass. 

The  writer  has  seen  the  various  useful  for- 
age plants  and  grasses  tried  from  the  moun- 
tains to  the  coast  of  Georgia.  He  has  been 
closely  observing  in  regard  to  this  important 
interest  for  more  than  twenty  years.  As  a 
conclusion  of  this  protracted  observation,  he 
does  not  hesitate  to  say  if  ground  be  made 
sufficiently  rich  and  as  well  prepared,  that  if 
judgment  be  exercised  in  sowing  and  in 
adaptation  of  species  to  particular  locality, 
and  proper  subsequent  management  be  ob- 
served, that  so  far  as  soil  and  climate  be 
concerned,  the  South  has  unusual  fitness  for 
successful  cultivation  of  the  valuable  grasses. 

DRAWBACKS. 

The  grass  grown  at  the  South  will  have 
some  difficulties  to  contend  with.  But  none 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


so  formidable  as  those  which  are  incident  to 
cotton  and  wheat.  One  of  these  difficulties, 
the  heat  of  the  summer's  sun,  has  already 
been  noticed,  and  also  the  mode  of  removing 
it.  In  this  connection  there  is  an  additional 
consideration.  We  have  really  comparatively 
little  need  of  artificial  summer  pastures. 
Broomsedge  makes  excellent  spring  pastures, 
and  the  crab-grass  in  the  stubble  gives  a  sum- 
mer pasture  which  cannot  be  surpassed.  This 
is  a  point  of  superiority  of  the  South  over  the 
North.  The  Northern  farmer  has  nothing  to 
correspond  with  our  crab-grass.  Bis  stock  are 
eating  without  appetite  or  relish  in  August 
and  September  the  old  grass  of  the  spring, 
while  our  stock  are  luxuriating  on  the  fresh 
bite  of  the  newly-sprung  crab-grass. 

We  are  fortunately  exempt  in  our  pastures 
and  meadows  to  a  great  degree  from  perennial 
weeds.  The  two  most  troublesome  are  the 
dock  and  the  thorn-apple,  or ''tread  soft,"  as 
it  is  called  in  the  vernacular.  The  former 
must  be  dug  up  by  the  roots,  the  latter  may 
be  killed  in  either  of  two  ways  ;  it  will  be  de- 
stroyed by  repeated  mowing,  or  if  sheep  are 
turned  into  the  pasture  when  the  berries  are 
green  they  will  eat  them  with  avidity.  In 
two  seasons  the  plant  will  die  when  thus 
treated.  But  if  either  sheep  or  cattle  are 
turned  into  the  meadow  or  pasture  when  the 
seeds  of  this  pest  are  ripe,  they  will  eat  them 
and  scatter  them  over  the  farm.  The  cow- 
itch  and  the  China  briar  are  easily  destroyed 
by  cutting  with  a  scythe  as  often  during  the 
season  as  the  leaves  put  out.  The  leaves  are 
the  lungs  of  plants,  and  if  they  cannot  breathe 
they  die.  Blackberries  and  sassafras  may  be 
destroyed  in  the  same  way,  that  is,  by  repeated 
cutting.  This  work,  however,  requires  the 
attention  of  the  owner.  If  a  negro  is  sent  to 
cut  down  either  briar  or  sassafras,  and  if  he 
leaves  only  a  leaf  or  shrub  on  the  stock  he 
might  as  well  not  have  cut  it  at  all.  But  it  is 
best  to  destroy  these  troublesome  plants  before 
grass  is  sown.  For  this  purpose  a  flock  of 
sheep  is  very  effective.  In  a  single  season,  if 
kept  hungry  in  a  short  pasture,  they  will  ex- 
terminate both  briars  and  sassafras,  if  they 
have  been  previously  cut  down  in  the  spring 
The  sheep  will  render  a  second  cutting  un- 
necessary. 

But  the  greatest  enemy  to  permanent  mead- 
ows or  pastures  of  the  cultivated  grasses  is 
broomsedge.  Ordinarily  before  a  meadow  or 
pasture  is  five  or  six  years  old,  it  is  overrun 
with  this  grass  ;  and  the  richer  the  land  the 
ranker  is  its  growth.  It  is  usually  considered 
to  be  a  sign  of  poverty  of  soil,  but  this  is  be- 
cause fields  at  the  South  are  usually  turned 
pastures  only  when  they  have  become  ex- 
hausted of  the  food  of  valuable  crops.  It 
will  grow  better  on  the  richest  bottom  than 
on  poor  upland. 

A  precaution  against  broomsedge  is  very 
heavy  seeding  of  the  grasses  which  we  desire 


to  occupy  the  soil.  When  grass  seed  is  sown 
it  should  be  thick  enough  for  the  plants  to  oc- 
cupy the  whole  ground  at  once.  Wherever 
there  is  the  smallest  vacant  place  broomsedge 
will  appear.  When  it  has  made  its  appear- 
ance if  a  shovelful  of  wet  or  recent  manure, 
or  of  rotted  manure  in  a  powdered  state,  is 
thrown  upon  a  tuft  of  it  it  will  die,  and  the 
good  grass  is  benefitted.  It  will  be  observed 
that  this  pest  never  grows  about  a  place  in 
which  stock  have  been  kept  or  penned.  A 
meadow  or  pasture  well  manured  with  stable 
or  barn  yard  manure  will  not  be  troubled 
with  broomsedge  for  a  number  of  years  It 
is  to  be  presumed  that  Peruvian  guano,  or 
ammonia  applied  in  any  form  will  have  the 
same  effect  with  barn-yard  manure.  Potash, 
in  the  form  of  ashes,  is  equally  destructive  to 
broomsedge,  and  beneficial  to  the  valuable 
grasses.  The  careful  observer  will  have 
noticed  that  in  the  thickest  set  old  broom- 
sedge  field  it  never  grows  up  to  a  burned 
stump,  not  approaching  nearer  than  a  circle 
of  three  or  four  feet.  If  a  flock  of  sheep  are 
closely  penned,  using  a  moveable  fence,  for 
ten  or  twelve  nights,  on  places  in  a  valuable 
meadow,  on  which  broomsedge  has  appeared, 
it  will  be  effectually  killed  without  injury  to 
the  good  grasses.  The  treading  and  the  ma- 
nure combine  to  effect  this  result.  The  pres- 
ence of  broomsedge  indicates  the  absence  or 
deficiency  of  ammoniacal  manures. 

In  this  connection,  and  as  an  adjunct  of 
grass  farming  at  the  South,  it  may  be  well  to 
describe  a  portable  fence,  in  use  by  the  writer, 
originated  by  him,  but  not  patented. 

Make  a  panel  of  fence  eight  or  ten  feet 
long,  of  five  planks,  six  inches  wide,  and 
three-quarters  to  one  inch  high,  nailed  to 
three  uprights,  two  by  three  inches,  twenty- 
five  and  one-half  feet  long.  The  uprights 
should  be  sharpened  at  the  lower  end,  a  two 
inch  auger  hole  should  be  bored  diagonally, 
and  in  these,  stakes  should  be  inserted.  These 
stakes  may  be  of  saplings  of  any  kind,  six 
feet  long,  sharpened  at  the  lower  end,  and 
with  a  shoulder  at  the  upper  end,  so  that  the 
stakes  will  project  nearly  one  foot  above  the 
plank.  The  fence  will  stand  at  an  angle  of 
about  forty-five  degrees  to  the  ground.  If  the 
fence  is  to  stand  for  a  length  of  time,  it  would 
be  well  to  bore  a  three-quarter  auger  hole 
through  the  stakes  above  the  planks  and  in- 
sert a  wooden  pin.  The  corner  panels  can 
be  made  to  fit  by  shortening  the  planks  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom.  With  a  flock  of  sheep 
and  a  movable  fence,  the  farmer  can  be  quite 
independent  of  broomsedges  in  his  meadows. 
But  it  may  be  said  that  it  may  pay  to 
manure  meadows  or  hay,  but  not  manure 
pastures.  Certainly  not  summer  pastures. 
The  natural  grasses,  broomsedge  among  them, 
answer  very  well  for  that  purpose.  But  it 
will  pay,  and  pay  handsomely,  to  manure 
winter  pastures,  because  they  are  in  effect 


Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


meadows  without  the  cost  of  hay  making. 
In  the  whole  range  of  Southern  agriculture 
there  is  no  crop  on  which  manure  pays  as 
well  as  on  winter  pastures. 

The  annual  weeds  are  no  serious  injury  to 
artificial  meadows  or  pastures.  The  first  year 
their  shade  is  rather  valuable  than  otherwise  ; 
afterward  most  of  them  require  the  ground  to 
be  stirred  to  induce  vegetation.  Mowing  the 
grass  will  destroy  those  which  do  vegetate  by 
preventing  their  going  to  seed. 

On  the  whole  the  drawbacks  to  successful 
grass  culture  at  the  South  are  as  few  and  as 
easily  removable  as  in  any  portion  of  Chris- 
tendom. 

FORAGE   PLANTS. 

By  the  term  Forage  Plants,  is  meant  any 
plant — not  a  grain  or  grass — which  is  cut  and 
cured  for  food  for  the  domestic  animals.  A 
great  variety  of  these  plants  are  cultivated  in 
different  parts  of  Europe.  Most  of  these  are 
not  adapted  to  the  climate  of  the  South. 
Among  them  are  Chicory,  Burnett  or  Pimper- 
nel, Scabius,  Spurry,  Lupin,and  Sainfoin.  Very 
careful  experiments  were  made  with  each  of 
these  plants.  They  were  tried  on  upland  and 
lowland,  with  and  without  lime,  with  and  with- 
out manure  The  first  seeds  were  obtained 
from  England.  When  they  failed,  seeds  were 
ordered  direct  from  France  and  Italy.  The 
seeds "  vegetated  in  each  case,  but  the  plants 
were  not  found  to  be  practically  useful.  Chi- 
cory grows  at  the  South  with  great  vigor,  but 
it  requires  too  much  labor  in  cultivation. 
The  experiments  with  Sainfoin  were  varied 
and  persistent.  It  was  abandoned  with  reluc- 
tance. It  is  so  valuable  in  England,  and 
especially  in  France,  in  a  climate  very  much 
like  our  own,  that  great  results  were  hoped 
from  it.  The  Sainfoin  grew,  but  never  became 
tall  enough  to  mow.  It  is  said  to  flourish  in 
Europe  best  in  sandy,  calcareous  soils.  Possibly 
it  may  thrive  in  what  are  called  rotten  lime- 
stone lands.  It  is  well  worthy  of  experiment  in 
these  soils,  as  where  it  thrives  well  it  is  placed 
at  the  head  of  forage  plants.  Its  name,  "  sa- 
cred grass,"  indicates  the  value  which  is 
attached  to  it. 

It  is  proper  to  say  that  all  of  these  experi- 
ments were  made  in  the  blue  limestone  lands 
of  northwestern  Georgia.  In  this  section  we 
do  not  hesitate  to  say  thfrt  trials  of  all  the 
above-mentioned  plants  have  been  unsuccess- 
ful In  view  of  this  failure  it  is  unnecessary 
to  enter  into  a  description  of  their  cultivation 
and  use. 

LUCERNE. 

As  a  forage  plant  at  the  South,  lucerne  is 
very  far  superior  to  all  others.  It  is  used  for 
two  purposes.  First,  for  feeding  green  or 
soiling ;  used  in  this  way,  it  is  best  to  cut  the 
lucerne  a  day  in  advance,  so  as  to  feed  it  in  a 
•wilted  state.  It  must  never  be  pastured.  Live 


stock  pasturing  it,  bifce  out  the  crowns  of  the 
plants  and  kill  them.  When  fed  green,  it  may 
be  given  to  horses,  cattle  and  hogs.  Horses 
fed  upon  it  when  not  at  work  need  no  grain-^ 
when  at  work  one  good  feed  of  grain  a  day 
is  sufficient.  Hogs  will  keep  in  good  order 
on  green  lucerne  cut  and  thrown  to  them. 

Lucerne  hay  is  extremely  nutritious,  and  is 
relished  by  horses,  cattle  and  sheep.  So  far 
as  the  observation  of  the  writer  extends,  it  is 
preferred  by  the  domestic  animals  to  any  other 
kind  of  hay. 

The  product  of  lucerne  is  enormous.  Five 
tons  of  excellent  hay  may  be  cut  from  one 
acre  of  ground  planted  in  lucerne-  It  is  esti- 
mated that  fodder,  green  and  dry,  may  be  ob- 
tained from  an  acre  of  lucerne  for  the  support 
of  five  horses  during  the  entire  year — this 
includes  the  great  bulk  of  green  food  during 
the  spring,  summer  and  autumn. 

In  this  latitude  lucerne  is  not  green  during 
0le  months  of  December,  January,  and  part  of 
February.  In  the  low  country  it  would  prob- 
ably be  green  all  the  year.  In  this  section  it 
commences  its  growth  during  the  latter  part 
of  February,  and  gives  its  first  cutting  early 
in  April,  even  before  the  wild  grass  begins  to 
spring.  It  is  ready  to  cut  fully  a  month  in 
advance  of  red  clover.  The  rapidity  of  its 
growth  is  excelled  only  by  asparagus. 

The  root  is  perennial,  lasting  ten  or  fifteen, 
or  perhaps  more  years.  These  roots  become 
as  large  as  small-sized  carrots.  Five  acres  of 
lucerne  on  this  farm  were  destroyed  during 
the  war  by  being  grazed  by  Sherman's  horses 
and  cattle.  After  that,  the  ground  was  left 
riddled  with  holes,  giving  it  the  appearance 
of  a  locust  year.  The  succeeding  crop  of  corn 
was  very  heavy.  This  might  have  been  ex- 
pected in  view  of  the  fact  stated  by  Ville, 
that  lucerne  absorbs  more  ammonia  from  the 
atmosphere  than  any  other  plant  whatsoever. 
This  is  a  point,  however,  of  little  practical 
utility,  as  no  one  having  a  field  of  lucerne 
would  plough  it  up  for  any  other  crop.  Great 
care  must  be  taken  in  saving  lucerne  hay.  If 
it  is  too  much  exposed  to  a  hot  sun,  the  leaves 
crumble  and  fall  off.  The  prevention  is  to 
put  the  lucerne  cut  in  the  morning  into  small 
cocks  in  the  afternoon,  open  them  for  a  little 
while  the  next  morning  after  the  dew  is  off, 
and  haul  immediately  to  the  barn.  These 
cocks  should  be  not  more  than  six  feet  tall, 
and  as  small  round  as  can  be  made  to 
stand.  The  hay  is  cured  as  it  were  in  the 
shade,  the  wind  or  air  circulating  through 
the  cocks. 

Whenever  lucerne  turns  yellow,  it  should 
be  mowed,  no  matter  if  it  has  not  attained  its 
full  height.  The  yellow  color  is  an  evidence 
of  disease,  or  the  ravages  of  some  small  in- 
sect. Lucerne  should  be  cut  as  soon  as  it  is 
in  blossom,  after  this  the  stems  become  hard 
and  woody.  It  does  not  reach  perfection  until 
the  third  year.  The  yield  is,  however,  heavy 


8 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


the  first  year  as  compared  with  other  forage 
plants 

Notwithstanding  all  precautions,  some 
weeds  and  crab-grass  will  appear  the  first 
year.  These  must  be  repeatedly  mowed,  so  as 
to  prevent  their  going  to  seed.  If  they  are 
annuals  they  will  give  you  no  trouble  after 
the  first  year. 

The  ground  designed  for  lucerne  should  'be 
made  as  clean  as  possible.  In  its  first  year  it 
is  delicate,  and  in  very  rich  ground  is"  liable 
to  be  smothered  by  weeds,  and  especially 
crab-grass.  All  perennial  weeds,  as  dock, 
plantain,  thorn-apple — or  in  the  vernacular, 
"Tread  soft" — should  be  carefully  extermi- 
nated. Either  Bermuda  or  blue  grass,  or  in 
fact  any  stoloniferous  perennial  grass  would 
be  very  hurtful  to  it.  In  view  of  this  neces- 
sity, a  cleansing  crop  should  precede  it, 
as  cotton  or  turnips,  fed  on  the.  ground  by 
sheep. 

As  the  taproots  of  lucerne  penetrate  to% 
great  depth,  the  soil  should  be  ploughed  to  a 
great  depth.  A  heavy  two-horse  plough 
should  be  followed  by  a  two-horse  subsoil 
plough.  It  would  be  well  to  cross-plough  the 
same  way.  The  surface  should  then  be  re- 
peatedly harrowed  until  it  is  perfectly  free 
from  lumps. 

Lucerne  seems  to  be  indifferent  to  the  tex- 
ture of  the  soil,  provided  it  be  dry  and  suffi- 
ciently rich.  The  writer  has  seen  it  grow 
with  luxuriance  on  the  sands  of  the  seaboard, 
and  the  clay  of  the  blue  lime-stone  country. 
But  two  things  are  required,  the  soil  must  be 
dry  and  rich. 

Too  much  pains  cannot  be  taken  with 
ground  to  be  sown  in  lucerne,  as  to  cleanness, 
fertility  and  depth  of  ploughing.  It  would  be 
best  for  any  one  who  does  not  design  to  take 
these  pains,  to  let  it  alone.  On  land  of  ordi- 
nary fertility  and  cleanness,  lucerne  would  be 
very  profitless. 

If  barn-yard  manure  be  used,  it  should  be 
perfectly  rotted  so  as  to  contain  no  seeds  of 
weeds.  If  it  be  not  rotted,  it  is  best  to  use  one 
of  the  commercial  manures.  One  should  be 
selected  which  contains  a  small  amount  of 
ammonia,  and  a  large  percentage  of  phosphate 
and  potash.  One  thousand  pounds  of  this 
manure  to  an  acre  would  not  be  at  all  too 
much.  This  should  be  thoroughly  harrowed 
in  before  the  seed  is  sown.  A  top  dressing 
should  be  given  every  third  year. 

Whether  the  seed  should  be  sown  broad- 
cast or  in  drill,  depends  on  the  condition  of 
the  ground  as  to  cleanness.  If  the  ground  be 
perfectly  clean,  broadcast  sowing  is  the  cheap- 
est and  best.  If  the  ground  in  two  or  three 
years  becomes  hard  on  the ,  surface,  it  can 
be  harrowed  when  the  top  dressing  is  ap- 
plied. 

If  the  ground  be  foul,  the  seed  should  be 
sown  in  drills,  about  twelve  inches  apart.  A 
coulter  or  very  narrow  scooter-plough  can  be 


run  between  the  rows  as  often  as  may  seem 
necessary. 

About  ten  pounds  of  seed  should  be  sown 
to  the  acre.  This  seed  now  sells  in  New 
York  at  fifty  cents  per  pound,  making  the 
cost  of  seed  for  an  acre  five  dollars.  In  large 
quantity  it  can  probably  be  bought  at  a 
cheaper  rate.  When  sowed,  the  seed  should 
be  brushed  in,  or  rolled.  The  covering  should 
be  very  light,  in  fact  if  the  seed  be  sown  be- 
fore a  rain  or  during  a  drizzle,  no  covering  is 
necessary. 

Here  it  may  be  proper  to  remark  in  con- 
nection with  the  sowing  of  all  small  seeds, 
whether  of  forage  plants  or  grasses,  that  if 
they  are  covered  an  inch  deep,  vegetation  is 
doubtful,  and  if  a  clod  is  turned  over  upon 
them  they  will  not  vegetate  at  all.  The  seeds- 
man is  often  blamed  when  the  fault  is  in  too 
deep  covering  by  the  farmer. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  process  of  prepara- 
tion of  land  for  lucerne  is  very  expensive. 
That  is  true.  But  let  us  compare  this  expense 
and  the  results.  Suppose  an  acre  of  land  to 
be  worth  $10,  and  the  cost  of  ploughing, 
harrowing,  manure  and  seed  be  $40,  in  all 
$50  Five  tons  of  lucerne  hay,  if  it  be  sold 
at  $20  per  ton,  is  $100,  a  very  good  interest 
on  $50.  In  most  localities  where  there  is  a 
market  for  hay,  lucerne  would  command  up- 
wards of  $30  per  ton.  It  should  also  be  re- 
membered that  the  results  of  the  expenditure 
last  for  a  term  of  years,  and  not  for  one 
year,  as  in  the  case  of  corn  or  cotton  or  grain 
crops. 

Great  efforts  have  been  made  to  introduce 
lucerne  into  England.  Large  premiums  for  a 
series  of  years  have  been  offered  by  the  Royal 
Agricultural  Society.  But  the  soil  or  climate, 
or  both,  are  unsuited  to  it. 

Efforts  have  been  made  to  introduce  it 
in  the  Northern  States  of  this  country,  but 
also  without  success.  The  winters  are  too 
severe. 

Lucerne  is  a  child  of  the  sun.  It  is  a  plant 
of  a  warm  climate.  Its  long  taproots  render 
it  comparatively  insensible  to  drought.  It 
grows  as  well  at  the  South  as  it  does  in  France 
or  Italy.  Yet  it  may  be  doubted  if  there  are 
ten  acres  of  lucerne  on  any  one  farm  at  the 
South.  While  we  have  a  plant  which  yields 
hay  of  a  better  quality  and  double  in  quan- 
tity, as  compared  with  any  grass  grown  at  the 
North,  our  railroads  are  groaning  under  the 
weight  of  Northern  hay. 

In  our  present  condition  it  can  hardly  be 
expected  that  farmers  will  lay  down  much 
land  in  lucerne,  on  account  of  its  expense, 
unless  it  be  where  there  is  a  ready  market  for 
hay.  But  every  farmer  should  have  an  acre 
or  more  of  lucerne  near  his  stable,  according 
to  the  number  of  his  horses.  In  no  other 
way  can  he  provide  for  them  a  fodder  so 
cheap  and  nutritious.  The  practice  is  growing 
among  persons  living  in  our  villages,  to  have 


' 


Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


a  clover  lot  to  provide  hay,  or  cut  green  food 
for  their  cows  and  horses.  Such  persons  will 
find  lucerne  to  be  much  more  valuable  than 
clover,  both  as  to  quantity  and  quality  of  the 
food  produced. 

Much  space  has  been  devoted  to  this  plant 
because  it  is  so  little  known  among  our  farm- 
ers, and  because  its  cultivation  would  be  of 
such  great  benefit  to  them. 

INDIAN  CORN. 

Corn  is  spoken  of  not  as  a  grain.  Nor  in 
reference  to  its  fodder  pulled  in  the  ordinary 
way.  Few  farmers  understand  the  actual  cost 
of  fodder  pulling  It  will  appear  when  they 
send  a  gang  of  hands  into  a  one  hundred  acre 
field  to  pull  fodder,  every  blade  of  every  stalk 
must  be  manipulated  or  handled.  Contrast 
this  tedious,  toilsome,  costly  process  with 
saving  a  crop  of  hay  by  improved  machinery, 
by  aid  of  which  the  grass  is  not  touched  by 
human  hands  from  the  cutting  to  the  loading 
into  the  barn. 

Strictly  as  a  forage  plant  corn  possesses  a 
great  value.  It  may  be  ranked  next  to 
lucerne,  which  it  exceeds  in  quantity,  but  does 
not  equal  in  quality.  Ten  tons  of  cured  fodder 
may  be  procured  from  an  acre  of  land. 

To  obtain  a  full  crop,  the  soil  should  be 
heavily  manured,  and  ploughed  very  deep. 
The  rows  should  be  three  feet  apart,  and  the 
corn  sowed  at  the  rate  of  three  bushels  to  the 
acre.  One  ploughing  and  hoeing  is  generally 
sufficient.  The  corn  should  be  cut  when  it  is 
in  tassel.  If  the  weather  be  good  it  may  lay 
upon  the  ground  twenty-four  hours.  Stalks 
should  have  been  left  standing  at  such  dis- 
tances that  the  cut  stalks  may  be  piled  around 
them  in  the  shape  of  a  stack.  They  may  be 
fastened  by  tying  them  with  a  stalk  near  the 
top.  Rain  will  not  injure  them  in  this  posi- 
tion, and  in  a  week  or  ten  days  they  may  be 
hauled  into  the  barn- 

These  corn-stalks  cut  up  with  a  straw-cutter 
make  very  good  winter  forage  for  horses  and 
cattle,  though  not  so  good  as  hay.  Their 
principal  use  at  the  North  is  for  soiling  milch 
cows  in  the  summer.  The  necessity  for  this 
arises  from  the  fact  that  at  that  season  grass 
in  their  pastures  is  old  and  dry,  and  cows  fail 
in  their  milk  on  it.  This  necessity  does  not 
exist  with  us,  as  at  the  same  season  our  crab- 
grass  affords  a  frjph  bite.  Very  sensible  farm- 
ers at  the  South  have  estimated  the  crab-grass 
pastures  of  a  fair  season  on  stubble  land  as 
being  nearly  equal  in  value  to  the  preceding 
small  grain  crop. 

In  the  absence  of  a  sufficient  supply  of  hay, 
it  is  very  proper  for  the  Southern  farmer  to 
have  some  acres  in  sowed  corn.  The  objection 
to  this  practice  is  that  it  must  be  repeated 
every  year.  This  involves  manual  labor  and 
expense,  whereas  a  meadow  lasts  for  ye^rs,  and 
requires  no  labor  but  the  harvest.  In  sowing 
corn  for  forage,  it  is  preferable  to  use  North- 


ern or  Western  seed  onrn,  as  the  stalks  are  not 
as  large  and  hard  as  the  Southern  varieties. 

THE  FIELD   PEA. 

A  variety  of  the  pea  for  forage  purposes 
should  be  selected  which  runs  very  much  to 
vine.  In  this  respect  the  varieties  of  the  pea 
differ  materially,  some  growing  in  bunches, 
others  in  rich  land,  matting  the  ground  with 
vines.  The  peas  should  be  sown  in  drills 
three  feet  apart  and  worked  sufficiently  to 
keep  them  clean.  The  vines  should  be  cut 
when  a  few  of  the  peas  have  matured,  but  when 
most  of  the  pods  are  green.  A  short-bladed 
scythe  should  be  used  in  cutting  them.  They 
are  saved  without  difficulty  by  the  same  pro- 
cess which  was  recommended  in  the  case  of 
lucerne,  only  the  pea  vines  should  remain  a 
day  or  two  longer  in  the  cock.  The  amount 
of  valuable  winter  forage  which  can  be  ob- 
tained from  an  acre  of  rich  land  in  peas  is 
very  great.  The  writer  has  found  the  follow- 
ing an  easy  and  efficacious  method  of  saving 
pea  vine  hay.  Cut  pine  or  other  poles,  about 
as  long  as  an  ordinary  fodder  pole,  leaving 
the  branches  two  to  three  feet  long.  Sink  the 
pole  securely  in  the  ground,  and  stack  the 
vines  when  quite  green  about  this  pole.  The 
short  branches  left  will  secure  sufficient  ven- 
^ilation  and  prevent  mildew. 

THE   VETCH. 

There  are  two  general  varieties  of  this 
plant,  the  winter  and  summer  vetch.  The  lat- 
ter is  of  very  little  use  to  us,  as  it  will  not  for 
summer  soiling  yield  as  large  an  amount  of 
green  forage  as  corn.  The  winter  vetch  will 
be  found  quite  useful  for  soiling  purposes  very 
early  in  the  spring.  For  this  use  it  comes 
earlier  than  lucerne,  being  ready  for  the  first 
cutting  during  the  first  warm  spell  in  Feb- 
ruary. The  seeds  should  be  sown  early  in 
August,  allowing  one  bushel  to  the  acre.  On 
well-manured  land  the  vetch,  or  tare,  yields  a 
large  amount  of  early-cut  food,  or  it  may  be 
made  into  nutritious  hay. 

The  English  attach  much  importance  to  the 
vetch.  But  with  the  single  exception  of  early 
green  food,  they  are  hardly  equal  to  our  com- 
mon field  pea. 

There  is  a  small  vetch  or  vetchling  which  is 
sometimes  introduced  upon  Southern  farms 
with  Northern  grass  seed.  On  rich  land  it 
will  grow  two  to  three  feet  high,  blossoms 
even  before  blue  grass,  and  is  very  useful  for 
early  pasture.  As  soon  as  ripe  the  pods  burst 
open,  and  the  seeds  are  scattered.  Wherever 
this  plant  appears  it  should  be  encouraged. 

More  than  twenty- five  years  ago,  the  writer 
observed  a  very  luxuriant  bunch  of  native 
vetch  growing  on  a  plantation  wharf  on 
Cooper  River,  in  South  Carolina,  and  directed 
the  attention  of  the  proprietor  to  it  as  a  val- 
uable plant.  But  he  was  a  rice  planter,  and  in 
that  day  no  man  among  rice  or  cotton  planters 


10 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


had  "two  strings  to  his  bow,"  and  the  sug- 
gestion was  unnoticed. 

The  December  number,  1874,  of  that  excel- 
lent agricultural  journal,  the  Rural  Carolinian, 
contains  a  suggestive  article  from  Mr  A.  B. 
Hose,  of  Charleston.  That  gentleman  details 
an  experiment,  in  which  he  turned  under  a 
crop  of  this  native  vetch,  and  with  the  aid  of 
some  lime,  and  the  result  on  four  and  a  half 
acres  was  the  production  of  forty-five  bushels 
of  corn  to  the  acre. 

The  use  of  this  native  vetch  as  a  fertilizer 
is  well  worthy  of  consideration  and  examina- 
tion in  those  parts  of  the  South  in  which  the 
soil  is  too  sandy  for  the  successful  growth  of 
red  clover. 

There  is  a  perennial  vetchling,  somewhat 
larger  than  what  is  called  the  partridge  pea, 
which  is  native  in  all  parts  of  this  State,  and 
which  might  be  made  useful  by  cultivation. 
This  variety  grows  wild  in  the  woods,  and  is 
green  all  winter.  Live  stock  are  very  fond  of 
it,  and  eat  it  out  where  they  can  reach  it.  Its 
being  perennial  is  greatly  in  its  favor. 

RIBWORT,  OR  NARROW-LEAVED   PLANTAIN. 

The  seed  of  this  plant  is  frequently  intro- 
"duced  with  clover  seed.  On  ordinary  uplands 
it  is  of  little  use,  except  that  it  is  green  during 
the  winter,  and  gives  a  moderate  bite  to  sheep, 
which  are  very  fond  of  it  at  that  season.  On 
rich  upland  or  moist  bottom  land,  it  grows 
quite  high  enough  among  the  grass  to  be  cut 
for  hay.  In  Lombardy  it  is  an  essential  con- 
stituent of  their  best  meadows.  The  narrow 
leaved  should  be  distinguished  from  the  broad 
leaved  plantain,  which  is  worthless. 

THE    OAT  AS   A  FORAGE  PLANT. 

No  more  valuable  winter  forage  for  horses' 
cattle,  and  sheep,  can  be  found  than  oats  cu*" 
just  before  the  straw  begins  to  turn.  The  seed 
will  mature,  and  the  straw  cut  in  this  state  is 
equal  to  good  hay.  Horses  will  do  moderate 
work  upon  oats  in  this  state  without  other 
food.  The  oats  should  be  cut  with  a  mowing 
blade,  and  cured  as  hay.  They  should,  of 
course,  be  cut  up  with  a  cutting-knife  before 
feeding. 

The  objection  to  all  these  annuals  as  forage 
plants  is  quite  serious.  It  is  a  tax  to  be  com- 
pelled to  repeat  the  same  process  every  year, 
when  there  are  plants  equally  valuable  which 
last  for  a  term  of  years.  Rather  than  pull 
fodder,  any  one  of  them  should  be  used,  but 
only  until  permanent  meadows  and  pastures 
are  laid  down. 

RED   CLOVER. 

In  the  variety  of  its  uses  this  is  the  most 
valuable  herbaceous  plant  to  the  Southern 
farmer.  Lucerne  is  superior  to  it  in  the  quan- 
tity and  quality  of  its  hay.  But,  then,  lucerne 
cannot  be  grazed,  nor  can  it  form  a  part  of  an 
ameliorating  rotation  of  crops,  and  will  not 


thrive  ex|pj^>t  upon  land  in  the  highest  tilth 
and  of  extreme  fertility.  Red  clover,  on  the 
other  hand,  bears  grazing  admirably,  is  an 
ameliorating  crop ;  makes  excellent  hay  and 
in  large  quantity,  and  thrives  on  land  of  mod- 
erate fertility,  such  as  will  produce  remunera- 
tive crops  of  wheat  or  corn. 

The  doubts  as  to  whether  red  clover  would 
succeed  at  the  South  have  been  dispelled. 
There  have  been  fine  clover  fields  from  Hutch- 
inson's  Island,  opposite  Savannah,  in  the  mid- 
dle country,  and  among  the  mountains.  In  no 
part  of  this  State,  or  any  other  of  the  South- 
ern States,  has  it  finally  failed  after  intelligent 
and  persistent  trial  upon  proper  soil.  A 
farmer  may  have  sowed  clover  and  failed. 
Perhaps  he  may  also  have  sowed  wheat,  or 
planted  cotton  or  corn,  and  failed.  But  this 
does  not  deter  him  from  sowing  or  planting 
again.  He  knows  that  he  must  have  made  a 
mistake,  or  the  seasons  may  have  been  against 
him.  These  failures  in  clover  may  be  attri- 
buted to  bad  seed,  or  too  deep  covering,  or  to 
unsuitable  soil,  or  to  a  very  hot  and  dry  sea- 
son. 

This  plant  is  of  so  great  importance  to  us, 
that  these  causes  of  failure  should  be  carefully 
investigated  and  corrected  by  a  different  prac- 
tice in  the  future.  One,  or  several  failures, 
should  not  discourage  us  in  a  new  and  impor- 
tant culture.  Many  persons  have  succeeded 
in  growing  clover  in  all  the  different  sections 
of  the  South.  Why  not  all  succeed  who  have 
suitable  soil  ? 

What  is  a  suitable  clover  soil  ?  It  must 
contain  a  large  percentage  of  clay.  Our  ex- 
tremely sandy  lands  on  or  near  the  coast  will 
not  grow  clover  successfully.  Among  them 
the  pea  must  be  the  substitute  for  clover ;  and 
an  excellent  substitute  it  is,  with  the  exception 
that  it  is  an  annual,  and  requires  some  culti- 
vation. The  native  vetch  may  also  prove 
useful. 

But  where  the  surface  is  sandy  and  the  sub- 
soil clay,  the  clay  may  be  brought  to  the  sur- 
face and  manured ;  clover  will  then  thrive 
upon  it.  Generally  a  good  wheat  soil,  and 
every  farmer  knows  what  that  is,  is  a  good 
clover  soil.  The  richer  the  soil,  the  more 
rankly  will  the  clover  grow.  It  is  time  thrown 
away  to  sow  clover  seed  on  land  that  will  not 
bring  ten  or  fifteen  bushels  of  wheat  to  the 
acre,  or  its  equivalent  in  oth£r  grains. 

The  subsoil  for  clover  muft  be  dry.  It  will 
not  thrive  on  wet  lands.  But  it  does  thrive 
on  bottom  lands  thoroughly  drained.  Hence 
it  has  always  been  the  opinion  of  the  writer, 
that  the  rice  lands  on  our  coast  would  yield 
magnificent  crops  of  clover,  and  be  more 
profitable,  all  things  considered,  than  rice. 

A  gallon  of  clover  seed  is  sufficient  for  an 
acre,  or  a  bushel  to  eight  acres.  The  seed 
should  be  lightly  covered  with  a  brush  or 
roller,  and  not  with  a  plough. 

The  ground  for  clover  should  be  ploughed  as 


Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


11 


deeply  as  possible.  The  danger  to  clover  arises 
from  our  hot  suns  acting  upon  the  surface  of 
the  ground.  If  the  young  clover  root  has  a 
loose  bed  underneath,  it  will  rapidly  penetrate 
to  a  sufficient  depth  to  pump  up  moisture,  and 
thus  be  measurably  independent  of  drought. 
The  writer  has  seen  excellent  clover  grown  in 
Morgan  County,  in  this  State  (Georgia),  one 
of  the  midland  counties,  on  worn  clay  soil, 
the  seed  sown  in  April  and  followed  by  a  dry 
spring.  The  preparation  was  very  deep 
ploughing  and  dressing  the  surface  with  three 
hundred  pounds  of  superphosphate  of  lime. 

USES   OF   RED    CLOVER. 

Hay. — Clover  should  be  cut  for  hay  as  soon 
as  a  portion  of  the  heads  begin  to  turn  brown. 
Earlier  than  this  it  is  too  watery,  later  it  is 
too  woody.  Clover  hay  may  be  very  useful 
or  very  worthless  for  forage,  according  to  the 
time  at  which  it  is  cut,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  cured.  Clover  cut  in  the  morning 
should  be  treated  as  previously  directed  for 
lucerne.  The  great  object  is  to  cure  it  as 
much  as  possible  in  the  shade.  The  hay,  when 
cut  at  the  proper  time  and  cured  in  this  way, 
will  be  of  a  nice  green  color,  with  all  the  leaves 
and  blossoms  attached,  instead  of  the  black 
sticks  which  are  often  sold  to  us  as  clover 
hay.  Rich  land  will  yield  two  tons,  and 
sometimes  three,  of  clover  hay.  At  $30  per 
ton  this  is  $60  to  $90  per  acre.  It  is  as  sure 
a  crop  as  wheat,  cotton  or  corn.  Where  there 
is  a  market  for  hay,  considering  the  amount 
of  labor  it  requires,  and  the  condition  in 
which  it  leaves  the  land,  it  is  a  more  profit- 
able crop  at  present  prices  of  hay,  than  either 
of  the  three  crops  above  mentioned. 

Seed. — The  use  of  clover  is  extending  so 
rapidly  at  the  South,  that  it  is  quite  time 
that  we  raise  our  own  seed.  The  present 
price  is  enormous  as  compared  with  the  cost 
of  saving  it.  The  second  crop  should  be  re- 
served for  seed.  A  simple  implement,  which 
can  be  made  on  any  farm,  is  used  for  gather- 
ing the  clover  heads,  when  the  seed  is  ripe. 
This  is  a  box  on  wheels  running  near  the 
ground  ;  in  front  of  it  are  fingers  like  those  of 
the  cradle,  only  shorter.  The  box,  to  which 
handles  are  attached  is  made  to  tilt  backward 
when  full.  It  is  drawn  by  one  horse  in  shafts. 
The  clover  huller  can  be  bought  in  New  York 
for  $50.  Five  to  six  bushels  of  clover  seed 
can  be  grown  on  an  acre.  At  present  prices, 
$10  in  most  Southern  markets,  this  would  pay 
very  well.  There  would  be  material  advan- 
tage in  buying  acclimated  seed. 

Pasture.— No  live  stock  should  be  turned 
upon  a  clover  field  until  the  clover  is  in  blos- 
8om.  The  temptation  to  violate  this  rule  is 
very  great.  Ordinarily  short  as  our  winters 
are,  the  provision  for  winter  forage  is  scant. 
Clover  springs  so  early,  and  our  live  stock  are 


so  hungry,  that  the  inducement  is  very  great 
to  put  them  upon  the  clover  before  the  proper 
time.  But  it  would  be  less  costly  to  buy  food 
than  to  do  this.  By  too  early  pasturing,  the 
clover  is  killed  out,  and  it  is  then  said  that 
clover  will  not  succeed  at  the  South.  Pre- 
cautions should  be  taken  in  turning  horses  or 
cattle  into  a  clover  field.  If  they  are  hungry 
at  the  time,  they  would  over-eat  themselves, 
andthe  result  is  an  attack  of  what  is  called 
hoven  The  animal  swells,  and  often  in  a 
short  time  dies.  To  prevent  this,  live  stock 
turned  into  a  clover  field  should  previously 
be  fully  fed  ;  they  should  not  have  had  access 
to  salt  within  twenty-four  hours ;  they  should 
not  the  first  day  remain  more  than  half  an 
hour,  and  the  dew  should  have  been  dis- 
sipated. 

While  clover  gives  a  valuable  pasture  for 
all  live  stock,  it  is  especially  valuable^for 
hogs.  If  they  are  put  upon  clover  after  it  is 
in  blossom,  with  the  exception  of  sucking 
sows  they  will  need  little  or  no  other  food. 
No  one  who  has  not  made  the  trial,  can 
imagine  how  many  hogs  an  acre  of  really  good 
clover  will  keep  in  growing  order. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  clover,  as 
well  as  all  other  forage  plants  and  grasses, 
should  be  lightly  pastured  during  midsum- 
mer. It  is  absolutely  essential  that  sufficient 
growth  be  left  upon  the  ground  to  protect  the 
roots  from  the  intense  heat  of  the  summer's 
sun.  Our  main  reliance  for  pasture  at  that 
season  should  be  the  crab-graf^  n 
stubble  fields. 

An  Improver  of  Land. — It  cannot  be  ex- 
pected that  clover  will  restore,  unassisted,  an 
absolutely  exhausted  soil.  Land  must  be  in 
a  condition  to  bring  fair  crops  of  grain  before 
clover  can  be  sowed  upon  it  to  advantage.  Af- 
terward in  a  judicious  rotation,  it  will  im- 
prove the  soil* rapidly.  It  does  this  in  two 
ways,  by  the  decay  of  its  large  taproot,  and  by 
its  absorbing  ammonia  rapidly  from  the  at- 
mosphere- The  cheapest  manure  that  we  can 
use,  after  land  has  been  put  into  proper  con- 
dition, is  clover  seed.  At  the  North  clover  is 
a  biennial ;  at  the  South  it  lasts  for  several 
years,  exactly  how  long  the  writer  does  not 
know.  After  clover  has  once  fairly  gone  to 
seed  at  the  South,  if  a  short  rotation  is 
adopted,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  sow  it 
again.  For  instance  in  the  following  rota- 
tions :  First,  cotton  or  corn  ;  second,  oats ; 
third,  wheat ;  the  clover  will  spring  sponta- 
neously among  the  wheat.  The  ground  should 
remain  two  years  in  clover  and  the  rotation 
then  be  repeated.  Land  thus  treated  will  im- 
prove steadily  and  even  rapidly,  without  fur- 
ther expenditure  for  manures. 

In  view  of  these  varied  uses,  the  successful 
cultivation  of  red  clover  is  an  object  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  the  people  of  the 
South. 


12 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


CRIMSON  CLOVER. 

This  is  an  annual,  and  is  liable  to  the  same 
objections  with  all  other  annuals.  It  may  be 
sowed  with  wheat  in  the  fall,  and  after  the 
wheat  is  cut,  will  yield  a  fair  crop  of  hay,  or 
give  good  pasture  the  same  season.  But  in 
the  experience  of  the  writer,  it  has  been  found 
to  be  inferior  to  the  common  red  clover. 

ALSIKE   CLOVER. 

This  is  a  perennial  plant,  spreading,  like 
white  clover,  from  the  roots.  It  appears  to 
be  an  intermediate  between  red  and  white 
clover.  It  grows  taller  than  the  latter,  but 
not  so  tall  as  the  former.  A  prima  facia  con- 
sideration against  it  is  that  it  is  a  native  of 
Sweden,  and  could  hardly  be  expected  to 
thrive  in  a  hot  climate.  Some  persons  at  the 
South  have  spoken  well  of  it.  The  trials 
of  it  by  the  writer  have  not  been  satisfactory. 

WHITE  CLOVER. 

This  is  a  very  valuable  plant  at  the  South. 
On  rich  land  it  will  grow  tall  enough  to  be 
cut  by  itself,  which  is  not  the  case  at  the 
North  or  in  England.  Mixed  with  timothy 
and  herds-grass,  it  greatly  increases  the  bulk 
and  value  of  the  hay,  giving  a  cutting  close  to 
the  ground. 

It  affords  excellent  pasture  in  the  spring 
for  hogs,  sheep,  and  cattle,  and  also  for  horses, 
until  the  blossoms  fall,  when  it  salivates  them. 
This  is  also  true  of  the  second  crop  of  red 
clover. 

White  clover  is  much  valued  in  England  on 
account  of  its  manurial  properties.  After  it  is 
once  firmly  set  in  the  soil,  whenever  it  is  at 
rest,  the  white  clover  springs  up.  When  a 
worn  soil  has  become  natural  to  white  clover, 
the  process  of  resuscitation  is  rapid.  An  ap- 
plication of  ashes  will  often  cause  white  clover 
to  spring  up  where  it  has  not  been  known  be- 
fore. If  mixed  with  red  clover  two  quarts  of 
seed  is  sufficient,  as  it  spreads  both  from  the 
seed  and  root. 

MILLET. 

Eight  varieties  of  millet  exist  in  this  coun" 
try  and  have  been  cultivated.  It  is  used  for 
soiling  purposes,  for  hay,  and  for  its  seed. 
Upward  of  fifty  bushels  of  seed  have  been 
raised  to  the  acre  on  rich  land.  The  hay 
made  from  millet  is  of  good  quality  and  large 
quantity.  For  forage  purposes,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  writer,  it  is  not  superior  to  oats,  and  is 
inferior  to  the  winter  vetch.  It  is  objection- 
able as  being  an  annual  for  reasons  previously 
given. 

Other  forage  plants  might  have  been  con- 
sidered. It  is,  however,  the  object  of  this 
little  manual  to  call  attention  only  to  those 
which  have  been  practically  useful  at  the 
South.  Further  consideration  of  the  subject 
would,  therefore,  be  rather  curious  than  in- 
structive. 


GUINEA   GRASS. 

The  writer  has  had  no  opportunity  of 
practical  acquaintance  with  this  grass.  In 
fact  the  name  seems  to  be  applied  to  three 
entirely  different  species.  Flint  applies  this 
name  to  the  Sorghum  vulgare.  This  is 
generally  known  as  Dhourra  corn  at  the 
South. 

The  editor  of  the  Rural  Carolinian  says 
that  the  true  Guinea  Grass  is  the  Pauicum 
jumeritorium,  which  is  an  annual. 

That  which  is  ordinarily  termed  Guinea 
Grass,  is  the  Sorghum  hala  pense,  by  some 
persons  also  called  the  Means  grass.  This 
grass  is  propagated  by  underground  stems  or 
roots.  It  has  been  dreaded  by  planters, 
because  it  seems  almost  impossible  to  exter- 
pate  it  where  it  has  once  been  established. 

A  prominent  position  is  given  to  this  grass 
by  its  endorsement  in  the  letter  of  Mr.  N.  B. 
Moore,  of  Augusta,  Ga.  This  gentleman  is 
certainly  the  highest  authority  in  Southern 
grass  culture.  I  have  before  me  a  communi- 
cation from  Mr.  Moore,  published  in  1834, 
in  the  Southern  Planter,  urging  the  general 
cultivation  of  the  grasses  at  the  South.  Since 
that  time  he  has  steadily  devoted  himself  to 
grass  culture,  planting  nothing  else  on  his 
farm  of  one  hundred  acres  of  Savannah  river 
land,  near  Augusta,  Ga.  From  these  one 
hundred  acres  he  has  derived  an  income  of 
from  seven  to  ten  thousand  dollars  per  annum. 
After  persistent  and  skilful  trial  of  the  differ- 
ent grasses,  his  preference  of  Guinea  grass 
will  occasion  much  surprise.  The  difficulty 
of  eradicating  the  Guinea  grass,  is  with  him 
an  advantage.  This  would  be  a  very  serious 
objection  where  the  meadow  was  not  designed 
to  be  permanent.  It  does  not  appear  to 
spread.  The  letter  of  Mr.  Moore  will  be 
read  with  great  interest  by  persons  engaged 
in  grass  culture. 

AUGUSTA,  September  7,  1874. 

DEAR  SIR:  Yours  of  the  5th  instant  is 
before  me.  In  answer  to  your  questions  I 
would  say,  that  after  an  experience  of  up- 
wards of  forty  years  in  cultivating  grasses, 
of  almost  every  variety  described  in  your 
"  Manual  of  the  Grasses,"  I  now  prefer  the 
Guinea  grass.  It  is  perennial,  is  as  nutri- 
tious as  any  other ;  when  once  well  set,  is 
difficult  to  eradicate ;  will  grow  on  ordinary 
land  and  yields  abundantly. 

My  meadow  consists  of  one  hundred  acres 
of  alluvial  land,  near  Augusta.  Before 
emancipation  it  received  annually,  for  twelve 
years,  an  average  of  five  hundred  cords  of 
stable  manure,  hauled  from  town,  besides 
wood  ashes  in  large  quantity.  For  the  past 
seven  years,  I  have  been  top  dressing  with 
commercial  fertilizers,  preferring  Ober  & 
Son's  double  A.  A.,  Baltimore,  to  any  other. 

In  winter  I  employ  but  four  men,  who  are 
enough  to  work  my  packing  press ;  in  sum- 


Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


13 


mer,  when  harvesting,  double  that  number.  )  stroyed  by  the  sun,  OP  by  the  grazing  of  live 
In  the  autumn,  I  usually   scarify   both  ways 
with  sharp,  steel-toothed  harrows,  and   sow 
over  the  stubble  a  peck  of  red  clover  per  acre, 


which,  with  volunteer  vetches,  come  off  about, 
the  middle  of  May.  The  second  yield  of 
clover  is  uniformly  eaten  up  by  grasshoppers. 
The  top  root  remains  to  fertilize  the  then 
coming  Guinea  grass,  which  should  be  cut 
when  from  two  to  three  feet  high. 

My  barns  will  contain  two  hundred  and 
fifty  tons  of  hay.  I  know  of  no  point  this 
side  of  the  Island  of  Jamaica,  where  the  seed 
of  the  Guinea  grass  can  be  obtained.  The 
Guinea  grass  would  not  answer  in  a  Northern 
climate.  On  such  land  as  mine,  it  will  afford 
three  or  four  cuttings  if  the  season  is  propi- 
tious. 1  use  an  average  of  five  tons  of  gyp- 
sum, soon  aft^r  the  first  cutting,  and  about 
the  same  quantity  of  the  best  commercial 
fertilizers,  in  March  or  April. 

I  use  mowing  machines.  The  grass  which 
is  cut  at  noon,  is  put  up  with  horse  sulky 
rakes,  in  cocks,  before  sundown. 

I  believe  in  shelter  and  paint  for  the  pre- 
servation of  every  tool.  I  have  wagons  built 
in  1852  and  1853;  also,  carts  and  harrows 
of  like  age,  now  perfectly  sound.  My  ex- 
perience and  observation  teach  me  that 
farmers,  as  a  class,  to  be  successful,  require 
more  brains  than  any  of  the  so-called  learned 
professions.  Very  respectfully, 

N.  B.  MOORE. 

NATIVE  GRASSES. 

The  native  grasses  of  the  South  are  an  in- 
teresting subject  of  study.  We  have  much 
to  learn  in  regard  to  them.  Our  absorption 
by  cotton  has  heretofore  prevented  due  atten- 
tion both  to  them  and  the  cultivated  or  arti- 
ficial grasses.  It  is  very  certain  that  the 
famous  Texas  grasses  once  covered  the  sur- 
face of  the  richer  portions  of  the  older 
Southern  States.  These,  when  desirable,  may 
be  restored  by  the  restoration  of  the  soil  to  its 
former  fertility.  But  both  the  experience 
and  reading  of  the  writer  have  satisfied  him 
that  none  of  these  Texas  grasses  are  equal, 
either  for  hay  or  pasturage,  to  some  of  the 
artificial  grasses  now  in  cultivation  at  the 
South. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  we  may  expect  to 
find  any  native  evergreen  grass  at  the  South, 
the  value  of  which  h  not  known.  It  is  possi- 
ble that  such  discoveries  may  be  made  in 
swamps  inaccessible  to  cattle,  by  examinations 
made  during  the  winter.  The  possibility  is 
of  sufficient  importance  to  justify  attentive 
observation  on  the  part  of  those  who  own  this 
description  of  land. 

A  grass,  to  be  valuable  either  for  hay  or 
pasture,  must  take  a  firm  hold  of  the  soil  by 
its  roots.  A  grass  that  pulls  up  easily,  how- 
ever promising  it  may  appear  to  be,  is  of 
little  worth.  It  will  be  either  easily  de- 


stock. 

Little  value  can  be  attached  to  a  grass, 
which  is  an  annual,  requiring  annual  re- 
sowing.  Grasses  which  seed  themselves,  as 
crab-grass  and  crow-foot,  are  more  valuable 
than  those  which  require  re-sowing. 

The  field  of  inquiry  as  to  hay  grasses  is 
much  larger  than  that  of  the  winter  grasses. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  some  valuable  hay 
grasses  have  been  heretofore  overlooked 
by  us. 

Because  a  grass  is  rejected,  when  in  flower, 
by  live  stock,  is  no  evidence  that  it  will  not 
make  a  good  hay.  Turn  cattle  into  a  meadow 
of  herdsgrass  or  timothy  when  they  are  ready 
to  cut,  and  they  will  eat  them  with  reluctance. 
But  if  turned  upon  timothy  or  herdsgrass 
when  they  are  young  and  tender,  both  will  be 
eaten  with  avidity. 

It  seems  to  be  a  general,  though  perhaps 
not  an  universal  rule,  that  any  grass  of 
which  live  stock  are  fond  when  it  is  young, 
if  it  grows  tall  enough  to  cut,  will  make  hay 
of  more  or  less  excellence  if  cut  and  cured 
when  in  flower. 

Some  of  our  young  men,  who  are  begin- 
ning to  see  with  their  own  eyes  and  not  the 
glasses  of  others  (and  there  are  many  such), 
would  do  a  public  service  if  they  would  at- 
tentively examine  the  tastes  of  cattle  and 
horses  while  grazing,  observe  the  grasses  of 
which  they  are  fond  in  the  spring,  transplant 
some  of  them  into  an  experimental  plat,  and 
in  the  proper  season  cut  and  cure  them  for 
hay.  Their  value,  or  want  of  value,  will  be 
quickly  determined  when  offered  to  horses  or 
cattle. 

Among  our  grasses,  which  are  green  all 
winter,  are  the  two  varieties  of  Lyme  grass 
or  Elymus.  There  are  six  varieties  of  this 
grass  in  the  United  States.  Only  two  of  them 
have  been  observed  in  Georgia,  and  the  differ- 
ence between  them  is  not  material.  The  Ely- 
mus is  known  among  us  as  Wild  Rye,  or 
Terrell  grass.  The  first  name  was  given  to 
it  popularly  on  account  of  the  resemblance  of 
its  heads  to  rye.  The  other,  as  Dr.  Terrell, 
of  Sparta,  Georgia,  brought  it  prominently 
into  notice  many  years  ago.  This  grass  is 
native  from  the  mountains  to  the  seaboard  of 
Georgia.  Wherever  cattle  have  unrestricted 
access  to  it  in  the  winter  and  spring,  they 
destroy  it — biting  it  into  the  earth  and  pre- 
venting its  seeding.  Hence  in  the  older  parts 
of  the  South,  it  can  be  found  only  in  frnce 
corners,  where  it  has  been  protected  by  bu>hes 
or  briars  In  such  localities  it  can  be  found 
all  over  this  State.  I  have  seen  it  growing 
luxuriantly  in  the  blue  limestone  lands  of 
northwest  Georgia,  on  the  sand  hills  near 
Augusta,  in  an  old  fence  row,  and  on  the  rich 
alluvial  land  of  Hutchinson  Island,  opposite 
Savannah,  and  among  the  small  cane  on  the 
coast  generally. 


14 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


This  grass  will  live  on  thin  land.  But  the 
soil  to  make  it  valuable  must  be  rich — the 
richer  the  better.  It  lasts  for  years.  I  have 
known  it  to  occupy  and  flourish  on  the  same 
spot  for  twenty  years.'  It  grows  as  well  on 
sandy  as  on  clay  lands,  requiring  only  fertili- 
ty. Horses,  sheep,  and  cattle,  are  very  fond 
of  it  during  the  winter  and  spring.  Hogs 
reject  it.  Orchard,  blue,  or  meadow-oat  grass 
are  either  of  them  preferable  to  it,  where  they 
thrive.  Whatever  doubt  there  may  be  as  to 
their  thriving  in  a  given  locality,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  of  the  thrift  of  the  Terrell  grass 
in  any  part  of  the  iSouth,  however  hot  it  may 
be,  if  the  soil  be  made  rich.  The  planter 
living  in  the  flat  and  somewhat  sandy  por- 
tions of  the  South,  who  says  he  cannot  get  a 
good  winter  pasture,  has  certainly  never  tried 
the  Terrell  grass  on  rich  land.  The  seed  is 
very  light.  Two  bushels  by  measure  should 
be  sowed  to  the  acre. 

It  is  very  frequently  remarked  in  the  thinly 
populated  portions  of  the  South,  where  the 
summer  pasture  or  range  is  good,  "  we  can 
keep  as  much  stock  as  we  can  winter.''  With 
one  hundred  acres  of  Terrell  grass  on  rich 
land,  from  which  stock  has  been  excluded 
during  the  summer  and  fall,  one  hundred 
head  of  cattle,  or  five  hundred  sheep,  can  be 
carried  from  Christmas  to  April. 

GAMMA   GRASS. 

This  is  a  native  of  the  South,  from  the 
mountains  to  the  coast.  The  seed  stem  runs 
up  to  the  height  of  five  to  seven  feet.  The 
seeds  break  off  from  the  stem  as  if  in  a  joint, 
a  single  seed  at  a  time.  The  leaves  resemble 
those  of  corn.  When  cut  before  the  seed 
stems  shoot  up,  they  make  a  coarse  but  nu- 
tritious hay.  This  grass  may  be  cut  three  or 
four  times  during  the  season.  The  quantity 
of  forage  which  can  be  made  from  it  is  enor- 
mous. Both  horses  and  cattle  are  fond  of  the 
hay.  The  roots  are  almost  as  large  and  strong 
as  cane  roots.  Hence,  it  must  be  meant  to 
stay  where  it  is  put.  It  would  require  a  team 
of  four  or  six  oxen  to  plough  it  up.  It  can, 
however,  be  easily  killed  by  close  grazing, 
and  the  mass  of  dead  roots  would  certainly 
greatly  enrich  the  land. 

As  the  seeds  of  this  grass  vegetate  with  un- 
certainty, it  is  usually  propagated  by  setting 
out  slips  of  the  roots  about  two  feet  apart  each 
way.  On  rich  land  the  tussocks  will  soon 
meet.  Gamma  grass  grows  equally  well  on 
rich  upland  or  bottom  land.  In  the  absence  of 
the  finer  hay  grasses,  this  grass  will  be  found 
an  abundant  and  excellent  substitute.  The 
hay  made  from  it  is  very  like  fodder  ;  is  quite 
equal  to  it  in  value,  and  may  be  saved  at  a 
tithe  of  the  expense  of  the  former. 

CRAB   AND   CROW-FOOT    GRASSES. 

These  grasses  are  so  well  known  at  the 
South  that  but  little  need  be  said  in  regard  to 


them.  Both  of  them  answer  a  valuable  pur- 
pose, both  for  hay  and  pasture.  The  crow- 
foot is  confined  to  the  lower  and  sandy  part 
of  the  Southern  States.  The  hay  made  from 
it  is  more  esteemed  than  that  from  crab-grass. 
Both  of  these  grasses  should  be  cut  as  soon 
as  they  are  in  blossom.  Some  farmers  pull 
the  hay  from  among  the  corn.  This  is  a  little 
worse  than  pulling  fodder. 

Any  one  wishing  to  save  crab-grass  or  crow- 
foot hay,  should  select  a  piece  of  rich  land, 
and,  after  the  weeds  have  sprung  up,  plough 
them  under.  If  they  spring  the  second  time, 
they  should  again  be  ploughed  under,  the 
land  then  harrowed  and  afterward  rolled. 
This  will  give  a  smooth  surface  for  the  mower. 
This  treatment  will  ordinarily  give  a  large 
and  clean  crop  of  hay,  free  from  weeds.  Very 
frequently  of  a  wet  season  a  good  crop  of  this 
hay  may  be  obtained  after  small  grain  is  cut. 
But  this  is  precarious,  and  the  farmer  will  not 
do  well  to  rely  on  it.  It  is  better  by  a  little 
more  labor  to  be  certain. 

The  objection  to  these  grasses  as  a  reliance 
for  hay  is,  that  the  hay,  though  large  in 
quantity,  is'  light  as  compared  with  better 
grasses,  as  it  is  ordinarily  treated — that  is, 
cut  when  the  seed  is  ripe,  it  is  inferior  to 
straw — that  they  are  annuals  and  make  no 
sward. 

For  pasture  they  are  of  great  value.  For 
this  purpose,  they  are  often  badly  managed. 
Cattle  and  sheep  are  turned  upon  the  grain 
stubble  as  soon  as  the  grain  is  cut.  Hogs  may 
be  put  upon  the  stubble  for  a  short  time,  to 
eat  up  the  shattered  grain.  They  should  be 
removed,  and  all  stock  kept  out  of  the  pasture 
until  the  grass  has  made  a  good  start.  Treated 
thus,  the  pasture  will  be  valuable  until  frost. 

This  is  a  singular  advantage.  It  is  not  ad- 
visable to  pasture  clover  and  the  cultivated 
grasses  closely  during  the  heat  of  summer. 
The  crab-grass  is  an  admirable  substitute 
until  cool  weather  begins,  when  the  stock  may 
again  be  turned  into  the  artificial  pastures. 
The  Northern  dairyman  would  give  a  great 
deal  for  a  fresh  crab-grass  pasture  in  August, 
when  the  grass  of  the  spring  is  old,  dry,  and 
perhaps  burned  by  the  sun.  In  the  absence 
of  this  reliance  he  must  soil  his  cattle. 

BROMUS —  BROMK     GRASS  —  RESCUE    GRASS  — 
CHEAT,    OR   CHESS. 

This  Bromus  family  would  not  be  noticed 
were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  every  now  and 
then  some  member  of  it  produces  a  tempo- 
rary excitement,  and  a  very  decided  loss  of 
money  on  the  part  of  the  farmer.  There  are 
seven  varieties  of  Bromus.  The  most  com- 
mon is  that  pest  called  cheat.  Some  persons 
think  that  the  small  grains,  under  certain 
ircumstances,  turn  into  cheat,  as  if  the  Al- 
mighty ever  made  one  thing  that  could  be 
turned  into  another.  Everything  that  was 


made,  was  made  perfect  of  its  kind,  and  staya 


ind, 


Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


15 


so.  We  might  as  soon  expect  wheat  to  be 
turned  into  oats  or  rye,  as  into  cheat. 

The  botanical  description  of  the  Bromus 
genus  is  as  follows.  The  unlearned  farmer 
will  not  understand  all  the  botanical  terms, 
but  he  will  understand  enough  of  them  to  be 
able  to  detect  a  Brome  grass  by  whatever 
name  it  may  be  called.  Besides,  all  the  girls 
who  attend  our  female  colleges  study  botany — 
so  that  if  the  lather  cannot  determine,  the 
daughter  can,  if  she  has  been  properly  taught: 

"Spikelets  from  five  to  many  flowered, 
panielled ;  glumes  not  quite  equal,  shorter 
than  the  flowers,  mostly  keeled,  the  lower 
one  to  five,  the  other  three  to  nine  nerved; 
palcae  herbaceous,  lower  one  convex  on  the 
back  or  compressed,  keeled,  five  to  nine 
nerved  ;  awned  or  bristle-pointed  from  below 
the  tip  ;  upper  palca  at  length  adhering  to  the 
groove  of  the  oblong  grain ;  fringed  on  the 
keel ;  stamens  three ;  styles  attached  below 
the  apex  of  the  ovary.  The  grasses  of  this 
genus  are  coarse,  with  large  spikelets,  some- 
what drooping  generally  when  ripe." 

Flint  remarks,  "  Not  one  of  the  brome 
grasses  is  worthy  of  a  moment's  attention  as 
a  cultivated  agricultural  grass,  and  the  cleaner 
the  farmer  keeps  his  fields  of  them  the  bet- 
ter." 

On  rich  land  the  brome  grasses,  including 
the  common  cheat,  make  a  nice  winter  past- 
ure. But  this  pasture  is  bought  at  too  dear  a 
rate  by  the  small  grain  grower,  as  the  seeds 
of  this  family  ripen  at  the  same  time  with 
wheat,  and  diminish  the  value  of  the  grain. 
Barley  or  rye  on  rich  land  will  yield  more 
winter  pasture  than  the  species  of  this  family 
called  rescue  grass,  and  are  not  liable  to  the 
same  objections.  If  a  farmer  desires  an  an- 
nual winter  grass  pasture,  he  should  sow 
Italian  rye-grass,  of  which  more  will  be  said 
hereafter. 

BERMUDA   GRASS — CYNODON  DACTOLON. 

Although  this  has  been  introduced  from 
the  West  Indies,  it  has  been  so  thoroughly 
domesticated  in  parts  of  the  South  that  it  may 
be  classed  among  native  grasses. 

It  is  said  to  be  the  celebrated  Daub 
sacred  grass  of  India.  At  the  South,  gener- 
ally, it  has  received  cursing  rather  than 
blessings,  especially  by  exclusive  cotton 
planters. 

Not  having  had  any  extended  personal  ex- 
perience of  this  grass,  yet  having  formed, 
from  long  observation,  a  high  opinion  of  its 
value,  instead  of  giving  my  own  estimate  of 
it,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  lay  before  the 
readers  of  this  manual  the  opinions  of  gentle- 
men who,  by  long  familiarity  with  it,  are 
well  qualified  to  pronounce  in  regard  to  its 
merits.  Accordingly,  extracts  from  letters 
are  submitted  from  Colonel  A.  J.  Lane,  a 
successful  cotton  planter,  formerly  of  Han- 
cock County,  Ga.,  now  of  Macon,  Colonel 


T.  C.  Howard,  Seoretary  of  the  Georgia 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Dr.  St.  Julien 
Ravenel,  of  Charleston.  It  would  have  been 
gratifying  to  have  given  these  letters  in  full, 
but  t  his  would  have  too  far  enlarged  this  little 
manual. 

The  points  presented  to  these  gentlemen 
were  the  following: 

What  is  the  best  method  of  destroying 
Bermuda  grass,  and  how  many  seasons  does 
it  require? 

What  is  its  manurial  value? 

What  is  its  value  for  grazing  and  for  how 
much  of  the  year  ? 

What  is  its  value  as  a  hay  grass? 

Colonel  Lane  says:  "Upon  our  ordinary 
upland  I  have  found  no  difficulty  in  destroy- 
ing it,  by  close  cultivation  in  cotton  for  two 
years.  It  requires  a  few  extra  plough  ings  to 
get  the  sod  thoroughly  broken  to  pieces.  The 
breaking  should  be  done  with  a  small  plough 
first,  and  a  harrow  run  over  it  once  or  twice. 
All  of  this  in  winter  or  early  spring.  Take 
advantage  of  the  dry  hot  months  of  summer 
to  have  the  grass  that  may  be  found  alive, 
ploughed  and  hoed,  and  exposed  as  much  as 
possible  to  the  sun.  With  the  ordinary  sea- 
sons, so  much  of  the  grass  will  be  killed  the 
first  year,  that  but  little  interference  with  the 
next  crop  need  be  apprehended.  Pea  vines, 
or  any  crop  that  will  thoroughly  shade  the 
land,  will  kill  it.  When  not  pastured,  broom 
sedge  or  briars  soon  destroy  it.  Upon  low 
lands,  where  there  is  much  moisture,  its  de- 
struction is  impracticable. 

I  think  it  very  doubtful  whether  there  is 
an  acre  of  land  in  the  South  thoroughly  set 
in  Bermuda  grass,  (if  the  proper  use  was 
made  of  it,)  that  is  not  worth  more  than  any 
other  crop  that  can  be  grown  on  it.  If  I  am 
right  in  this  broad  opinion  our  effort  should 
be  not  to  kill  it,  but  to  propagate  it.  I  am 
myself  planting  it  in  every  year  upon  such 
land  as  does  not  pay  for  cultivation,  and  how 
much  such  land  is  there  throughout  the 
South. 

I  cannot  better  illustrate  the  grazing  value 
of  Bermuda  grass,  than  by  an  instance  in  my 
own  experience.  Nearly  thirty  years  ago  I 
bought  an  old  plantation,  near  my  place  in 
Hancock  County.  It  was  bought  low  on 
account  of  its  being  infested  in  places  wi'th 
Bermuda  grass.  I  permitted  a  man  to  use 
thirty  acres  of  it  which  were  fully  set  in  Ber- 
muda grass.  He  had  at  the  time,  a  cow  and 
calf,  sow  and  pigs,  and  a  brood  mare.  He 
cultivated  a  little  crop  of  corn,  but  never 
enough  to  feed  his  family.  His  stock  lived 
upon  this  thirty  acres  of  Bermuda  grass, 
except  for  a  short  time  during  the  winter, 
when  they  had  access  to  other  parts  of  the 
plantation.  He  remained  upon  this  place  for 
five  or  six  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time, 
he  had  twenty-five  head  of  cattle,  seventy- 
five  hogs,  and  five  horses.  I  offered  him  for 


16 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


his  increase  $1,000  which  he  refused.  So 
much  for  the  grazing  value  of  Bermuda  grass. 

I  cannot  give  you  a  better  illustration  of 
the  manurial  value  of  this  grass,  than  by  re- 
ference to  the  crops  made  on  this  same  thirty 
acres  of  land,  after  the  man  referred  to  had 
left  the  place. 

First  crop,  cotton,  half  stand,  owing  to  the 
mass  of  undecomposed  sod,  eighteen  hundred 
pounds  of  seed  cotton  per  acre. 

Second  crop,  cotton,  two  thousand  eight 
hundred  pounds  seed  cotton  per  acre. 

Third  crop,  corn,  sixty-five  bushels  per 
acre — corn  manured  with  cotton  seed. 

Fourth  crop,  wheat,  forty-two  bushels  per 
acre. 

The  average  product  of  this  land  without 
the  sod,  would  have  been  not  more  than  one 
hundred  pounds  of  seed  cotton,  fifteen  to 
twenty  bushels  of  corn,  and  eight  to  ten  of 
wheat.  I  know  of  no  crop  that  will  improve 
land  more,  and  certainly  none  that  will,  at 
the  same  time,  give  so  large  an  income  with 
so  little  labor. 

I  have  never  made  hay  from  it.  A  gentle- 
man of  this  County  informed  me  a  few  days 
since,  that  he  had  just  cut  from  one  acre  of 
Bermuda  grass,  eight  two-horse  wagon  loads 
of  excellent  hay. 

Col.  T.  C.  Howard  gives  an  equally  strong 
opinion  of  the  value  of  Bermuda  grass,  in  the 
following  extract : 

''  The  desideratum  to  the  South  is  a  grass 
that  is  perennial,  nutritious  and  adapted  to 
the  climate.  While  we  have  grasses  and 
forage  plants  that  do  well  when  nursed,  we 
have  few  that  live  and  thrive  here  as  in  their 
native  'habitat.'  The  Bermuda  and  crab 
grass  are  at  home  in  the  South.  They  not 
only  live,  but  live  in  spite  of  neglect,  and 
when  petted  and  encouraged,  they  make  such 
grateful  returns  as  astonish  the  benefactor. 
I  have  known  $114  worth  of  hay  sold  from 
seven-eighths  of  an  acre  of  Bermuda  grass 
in  one  season.  I  have  known  this  '  pest,'  so 
called,  extirpated,  after  twentv  years.  Sod  that 
had  been  undisturbed  by  any  tool,  and  aston- 
ishing crops,  both  of  cotton  and  corn  raised 
in  place  of  it  the  first  year.  Indeed  I  doubt 
if  even  the  far-famed  blue  grass  sod  is  a  better 
fertilizer,  and  every  one  knows  what  the 
Western  Virginians  think  of  that  a1?  a  re- 
storer of  impoverished  land." 

"To  destroy  Bermuda  grass,  run  a  coulter 
or  narrow  bull  tongue  through  it,  then  set  a 
turning  plough  to  run  very  shallow,  and  turn 
the  surface  over,  but  not  under.  This  exposes 
the  roots  to  cold  and  frost,  which  will  as  cer- 
tainly kill  it  as  ii  will  kill  sugar-cane.  But 
my  trouble  is  to  raise  it  to  the  greatest  per- 
fection, not  to  destroy  it.  One  acre  of  good 
Bermuda  grass,  as  good  as  my  friend's,  who 
sold  the  $il4  worth  of  hay  from  less  than  an 
acre  will  give  a  gross  product  of  twenty  per 
cent,  on  $570. 


White  Bermuda  grass  has  seed  vessels ;  it 
certainly  has  no  seed.  There  are  the  effigies 
of  seeds,  but  not  the  seeds  themselves.  The 
proof  of  this  is,  that  while  red  and  white 
clover,  the  whole  family  of  grasses  and  weeds, 
can  be  propagated  by  the  spread  of  annual 
manure,  no  one  ever  saw  a  patch  of  Bermuda 
so  propagated.  It  must  be  grown  by  its  roots 
and  joints. 

The  proper  plan  of  setting  land  in  Bermuda 
is,  to  run,  in  small  checks,  a  sharp  "sword 
coulter"  through  the  soil,  then  lift  the  turf, 
remove  it  to  running  water,  wash  out  the 
dirt,  and  run  the  roots  through  a  cutting- 
knife  so  set  as  to  chop  fine.  Then  sow  broad- 
cast and  plough  under  shallow,  as  you  should 
do  in  putting  in  wheat. 

If  Bermuda  grass  be  trampled  or  grazed 
by  stock,  it  will  for  an  indefinite  period  hold 
its  place.  While  grazed,  neither  Lespedeza, 
broom  sedge,  blue  grass,  or  any  other  growth, 
will  oust  it.  But  if  enclosed  and  ungrazed, 
broom  sedge  will  certainly  kill  it  out  in  three 
or  four  years.  No  one  need  fear  the  intro- 
duction of  Bermuda  grass  on  his  farm,  from 
an  apprehension  that  he  cannot  get  rid  of  it 
when  he  desires  to  do  so.  Either  of  the  above 
methods  will  certainly  destroy  it. 

Dr.  St.  Julien  Ravenel,  an  accurate  man 
of  science,  makes  the  following  remarkable 
statement  in  regard  to  Bermuda  grass.  The 
experiment  was  conducted  near  Charleston, 
S.  C.: 

"One-eighth  of  an  acre  of  ordinary  land 
covered  with  Bermuda  grass  was  ploughed  in 
March  last  f!874),  harrowed,  rolled  smooth 
enough  for  the  mowing  machine,  and  fifty 
pounds  of  ammoniated  super-phosphate  of 
lime  applied. 

Four  cuttings  were  obtained  which  yielded 
two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty 
pounds  of  hay.  This  was  at  the  rate  of  ten 
tons  to  the  acre. 

The  first  cutting  contained  ten  per  cent,  of 
albumenoMs,  the  last  cutting  fourteen  per  cent, 
albumenoids.  Ash  6£  or  1.456  of  ash  to  the 
acre.  The  hay  was  nicely  cured,  and  was 
preferred  by  horses  and  cattle  to  hay  brought 
from  the  North." 

The  opinions  of  these  gentlemen  are  very 
decided  as  to  the  valuable  qualities  of  Ber- 
muda grass,  as  to  grazing,  for  hay  and  ma- 
nurial purposes.  The  continued  and  careful 
observation  of  the  writer  corroborate  the  re- 
sults of  their  practical  experience. 

The  exclusive  cotton  planter  shrinks  from 
this  grass.  If  he  would  shrink  from  so  much 
cotton  it  would  be  a  more  valuable  shrinkage. 
Yet  the  writer  has  seen  fields,  which  were 
covered  with  a  dense  Bermuda  grass  sod, 
completely  cleansed  of  it  by  two  successive 
crops  of  cotton,  and  those  crops  were  inva- 
riably fine.  It  is  true  that  the  inversion  of  a 
Bermuda  grass  sod  increases  at  first  seriously 
the  cost  of  the  cultivation  of  the  cotton  crop. 


I 


Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


But  this  increase  is  not  equal  to  the  cost  of 
buying  commercial  fertilizers.  No  ordinary 
application  of  these  fertilizers  will  communi- 
cate to  the  soil  an  equal  degree  of  fertility 
with  that  which  is  communicated  by  the  in- 
version of  a  Bermuda  grass  sod.  The  fer- 
tility created  in  the  latter  case  will  be  felt  for 
several  years — in  the  former  it  is  ephem- 
eral. 

The  following  rotation  on  Bermuda  grass 
land  has  been  adopted  by  some  cotton  plant- 
ers with  excellent  results.  The  first  year  cot- 
ton, the  second,  corn,  the  third,  oats  or  wheat, 
sowed  after  corn.  The  grass  which  has  been 
scotched,  not  killed,  begins  to  run  as  soon  as 
the  small  grain  is  cut,  and  if  grazed  for  two 
or  three  years  there  will  be  a  thick  sward  of 
Bermuda  on  which  the  same  rotation  may  be 
repeated.  Under  such  a  rotation  the  soil, 
now  the  only  capital  of  the  Southern  farmer, 
would  rapidly  improve.  If  he  will  take  the 
pains  to  calculate  the  value  of  this  interme- 
diate grazing,  he  will  find  that  it  will  be,  in 
either  horses,  mules,  colts,  cattle  or  sheep,  an 
enormous  per  centage  on  the  sum  for  which 
he  would  gladly  sell  his  land. 

If,  when  the  soil  is  not  too  sandy,  Bermuda 
grass  is  torn  up  by  the  plough  or  coulter, 
blue  grass  and  white  clover  seed  are  sowed, 
after  harrowing  and  previous  to  rolling,  the 
perfection  of  a  pasture,  capable  of  sustaining 
the  best  live  stock,  whether  horses,  mules, 
colts,  cattle,  sheep,  or  hogs,  will  be  produced, 
winter  and  summer.  There  is  nothing  equal 
to  it  at  the  North,  or  in  Europe.  As  the  Ber- 
muda dies  down  in  autumn,  the  blue  grass 
and  white  clover  then  appear,  the  reverse  re- 
curring in  the  heat  of  summer. 

More  than  thirty  years  ago  the  writer, 
walking  with  a  gentleman  of  far-reaching 
mind,  and  observing  the  gullied  and  exco- 
riated condition  of  the  soil  near  Mllledgeville, 
enquired,  ''What  is  to  restore  its  fertility  to 
the  worn  out  portion  of  Georgia?"  The  an- 
swer was  promptly  given.  "Sheep  and  Ber- 
muda grass  "  There  was  profound  wisdom 
in  the  reply.  A  large  portion  of  old  Georgia 
must  become  a  sheep  walk  before  it  can  be 
restored  to  fertility,  and  the  land  owners  be- 
come independent  of  the  negro. 

Possibly  some  persons  might  think  it  a 
degradation  of  even  a  worn  out  cotton  field 
to  convert  it  into  a  sheep  walk.  It  would, 
indeed,  be  degrading  it.  to  the  level  of  an 
English  farm,  worth  from  three  to  four  hun- 
dred dollars  an  acre.  It  would  be  well  for  us 
if  we  suffered  this  degradation.  Besides  all 
the  land  in  clover  and  meadow,  of  which 
there  is  a  vast  amount,  forty-eight  per  cent  of 
the  whole  of  the  valuable  soil  of  England  is 
in  permanent  pasture. 

So  much  space  has  been  given  in  this 
manual  to  Bermuda  grass,  on  account  of  the 
prejudices  against  it,  its  great  value,  and  the 
facts  that  while  the  artificial  grasses  are  ex- 

2 


pensive,  it  is  within  «asy  reach  of  the  poorest 
farmer. 

It  would  be  improper  to  close  these  re- 
marks upon  the  natural  resources  of  the  South 
in  the  way  of  native  forage  plants  and  grasses 
without  reference  to  the  value  of  our  com- 
mon cane  as  a  winter  food  for  mules  and  cattle. 
Our  canebrakes  should  be  preserved  with  the 
greatest  care.  Where  they  have  been  des- 
troyed they  may  be  renewed  by  inclosing  and 
keeping  hogs  and  fire  away  from  them.  If 
cattle  are  turned  in  the  fall  fat  into  a  cane- 
brake  they  will  not  lose  flesh,  but  improve 
until  grass  comes  again.  With  a  judicious 
management  of  cane  in  those  portions  of  the 
South  in  which  it  grows,  vast  herds  of  cattle 
might  be  kept  at  trifling  expense.  As  (he 
cane  is  a  swamp  growth,  cattle  could  be  driv- 
en into  the  cane  pasture  in  the  morning  and 
driven  out  and  penned  at  night  on  poor  up- 
land, thereby  making  it  rich  without  damag- 
ing the  cane  ground. 

Without  reference  to  the  artificial  or  cul- 
tivated grasses,  we  have  the  following  natur- 
al reliances  for  live  stock  food  during  all  sea- 
sons of  the  year  :  Terrell  grass  and  cane  for 
winter  pasture ;  Gama,  crab  and  crow-foot 
grasses  for  hay  ,  Bermuda,  the  sedge,  and 
other  common  grasses,  including  crab-grass 
and  crow-foot,  for  spring,  summer  and  fall 
grazing. 

With  these  reliances  alone,  sheep  and  cat- 
tle can  be  raised  at  the  South  to  decided  pro- 
fit. They  will  enable  the  poor  man  to  begin 
stock  raising,  who  cannot  afford  at  once  to 
make  his  lands  rich,  or  to  buy  grass  seeds, 
which  are  expensive.  As  his  means  improve 
he  may  add  such  of  the  artificial  grasses  as 
may  be  adapted  to  his  particular  locality. 

In  large  portioi  s  of  the  South  there  are 
creek  and  river  bottom  lands  which  are  now 
utterly  useless.  They  are  too  wet  for  relia- 
ble cultivation  with  the  plow,  and  are  grown 
up  into  impenetrable  thickets  of  briars,  vines 
and  bushes.  If  such  land  is  grubbed  in  Au- 
gust, and  the  timber  where  it  is  too  thick  is 
thinned  out,  and  if  the  next  season  hungry 
cattle,  sheep  and  goats  are  kept  upon  it,  they 
will  destroy  the  sprouts,  and  in  a  short  time 
the  natural  winter  grasses  will  form  an  ex- 
cellent winter  pasture.  These  grasses  will 
spring  up  spontaneously.  Thus  with  a  little 
labor;  at  a  season  of  comparative  leisure,  a 
piece  of  profitless  property  may  be  made 
profitable  in  a  double  sense — one  of  fat- 
tening stock  in  winter  at  no  other  cost  than 
the  interest  on  the  land,  and  the  other  of  mak- 
ing that  stock,  by  penning  at  night,  an  im- 
prover of  land  which  requires  improvement. 

Time  sometimes  misleads  us.  He  clothes 
error  with  gray  hairs  and  makes  him  venera- 
ble. There  are  many  persons  who  prefer  an 
old  error  to  a  new  truth.  While  long  exist- 
ing opinion  should  be  approached  with  cau- 
tion, it  should  be,  if  the  expression  may  be 


18 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


allowed,  with  bold  caution.  That  which  may 
have  been  sound  policy  in  one  condition  of 
affairs  may  be  very  unsound  in  another.  Our 
fathers  made  nothing  but  cotton  and  corn. 
They  thought  they  did  right.  But  because  it 
may  have  been  right  for  them,  it  does  not  follow 
that  it  is  right  for  us.  We  have  never  availed 
ourselves  of  the  full  natural  resources  of  soil 
elements  and  products  with  which  God  has 
blessed  us.  When  we  have  thus  availed  our- 
selves, and  to  these  natural  resources  have 
added  the  appliances  of  modern  agricultural 
science,  the  South  will  have  attained  a  pros- 
perity which  will  make  her  a  marvel  among 
the  peoples  of  the  earth. 

WINTER  GRASSES. 

One  of  the  most  marked  and  singular  ad- 
vantages of  the  South,  is  its  ability  to  grow 
grasses  which  may  be  pastured  in  the  winter. 
It  is  a  blessing  of  climate  which  we  have  not 
yet  appreciated.  The  raising  a  full  supply 
of  horses,  mules,  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs  for 
our  own  consumption,  is  an  absolute  essential 
of  skilled  agriculture.  For  all  of  these,  ex- 
cept the  hog,  grass,  either  green  or  cured,  is 
necessary.  The  cost  of  cutting  and  saving 
hay  has  been  greatly  reduced  by  the  use  of 
improved  implements.  Slill  it  is  something. 
Besides  the  cost  of  the  hay  is  the  cost  of  the 
barn  to  store  it  in,  and  in  addition  the  cost 
of  feeding  it  out.  A  barn  sufficiently  large 
to  hold  the  hay  for  a  considerable  stock,  is  an 
expensive  affair.  Nearly  all  of  this  expense 
is  saved  by  good  winter  pastures.  The  stock 
upon  them  do  their  own  mowing,  and  are 
their  own  barn.  Exceptional  periods  occur, 
as  in  a  heavy  freeze  or  severe  storm,  when 
some  hay  must  be  fed.  By  the  aid  of  the 
winter  grasses,  it  is  perfectly  practicable  to 
raise  colts,  cattle  and  sheep,  throughout  a 
large  portion  of  the  South,  without  other 
cost  than  the  interest  on  land  and  the  value 
of  the  salt.  The  first  object  of  the  farmer, 
who  designs  to  grow  the  grasses,  should  be 
to  sow  those  which  are  green  all  the  winter. 
"  Roughness,"  as  it  is  called,  may  be  tempo- 
rarily secured  by  sowing  corn,  peas,  millet 
and  oats.  But  there  is  no  adequate  substi- 
tute for  winter  grass  pastures.  Oats,  barley 
and  rye  may  be  grazed,  but  the  stock  must 
be  taken  from  them  at  a  season  when  the  ne- 
cessity is  most  pinching,  and  besides  they 
must  be  sowed  annually,  which  is  expensive. 
They  are  decidedly  to  be  preferred  to  no  win- 
ter pasture,  but  are  very  inferior  to  perma- 
nent grass  pastures. 

MEADOW-OAT  GRASS. 

This  grass  deserves  to  be  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  winter  grasses  for  the  South.  It  has 
the  double  advantage  of  being  a  good  hay 
as  well  as  winter  pasture  grass.  It  does  not 
answer  well  on  moist  land.  Kich  upland  is 
the  proper  soil  for  it.  On  such  land  it  will 


grow  from  five  to  seven  feet  tall,  completely 
hiding  a  man  walking  in  it.  It  will  grow  on 
more  Randy  land  than  most  of  the  artificial 
grasses.  Hence  it  is  well  suited  to  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  soil  of  the  cotton  belt,  perhaps  better 
suited  on  this  account  than  any  other  upland 
grass.  The  yield  of  hay  on  rich  land  is  large 
and  the  quality  is  excellent.  It  matures  rap- 
idly. Seed  sown  in  the  spring  will  produce 
seed  in  the  fall.  The  seed  is  ripe  when  the 
stalk  is  green.  It  shatters  easily,  and  the 
seed  must  therefore  be  saved  in  time.  If  it 
be  desired  to  save  seed,  it  is  best  to  cut  off 
the  heads  with  a  cradle  and  tie  in  bundles  as 
grain  ;  afterwards  the  rest  can  be  mowed  for 
hay.  This  is  a  great  advantage  of  being  able 
to  save  hay  and  seed  from  the  same  crop.  Of 
a  wet  season  it  may  be  necessary  to  cut  a  sec- 
ond crop.  After  it  is  cut  no  stock  should  be 
allowed  to  graze  it,  during  the  summer 
and  fall.  The  rowen  or  aftermath,  or  after- 
growth, all  of  these  named  being  used,  should 
remain  until  after  Christmas,  then  the  stock 
may  be  turned  upon  it  in  dry  weather  and 
remain  during  the  months  of  January  and 
February.  If  it  be  not  designed  to  make 
hay,  they  may  be  continued  on  it  until  the 
other  grasses  spring.  The  amount  of  green 
food  yielded  by  this  grass  during  the  winter 
is  greater  than  that  of  any  other  grass.  On 
rich  land  at  Christmas,  the  ends  of  the  leaves 
will  have  turned  yellow,  but  there  will  be 
found  an  astonishing  mass  of  green  grass  be- 
neath, which  live  stock  eat  with  avidity;  this, 
according  to  Flint,  is  the  ray  grass  of  France. 
The  seed  is  very  light  and  chaffy.  It  is 
proper  to  sow  two  bushels  to  the  acre.  It  is 
a  tussock,  or  bunch  grass,  not  spreading  from 
the  roots,  hence  the  necessity  of  heavy  seed- 
ing. The  amount  of  seed  required  makes  the 
beginning  expensive,  but  if  sowed  by  itself, 
an  acre  will  give  a  large  amount  of  seed,  and 
subsequent  purchases  become  unnecessary. 

In  this  connection  it  will  not  be  amiss  to 
make  some  remarks  on  winter  pastures  gene- 
rally. 

They  must  not  be  pastured  when  the  ground 
is  wet ;  at  such  times  all  stock  must  be  re- 
moved from  them.  They  must  not  at  any 
time  be  grazed  too  closely.  Everybody  knows 
how  to  treat  a  rye  or  barley  lot.  It  is  well 
known  that  if  stock  bite  into  tho  crown 
of  the  plant  it  will  be  killed.  Winter 
grass  pastures  must  be  treated  in  the  same 
way  with  grain  paeture.  The  temptation  to 
transgress  in  this  particular  is  very  great. 
When  all  other  vegetable  matter  is  dead,  live 
stock  become  almost  crazy  for  green  food, 
and  they  are  suffered  by  the  sympathizing 
owner  to  remain  while  a  particle  of  green 
food  is  visible.  As  a  consequence  of  this 
practice  persisted  in,  the  grass  is  killed.  It 
will  be  better  to  buy  fodder,  if  it  be  necessa- 
ry, rather  than  allow  a  practice  so  ruinous  to 
the  farmer. 


Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


19 


In  order  to  make  winter  pastures  valuable, 
the  ground  should  be  heavily  manured.  This 
manure  may  be  given  to  the  preceding  cotton 
or  grain  crop.  The  winter  pasture  should  be 
the  richest  land  on  the  farm.  It  should  be 
prepared  as  for  a  barley  lot  It  is  impossible 
to  make  something  out  of  nothing.  The 
artificial  grasses  are  highly  concentrated 
food,  and  it  is  out  of  the  question  to  raise 
them  on  poor,  or  even  moderately  fertile 
land. 

In  all  well-cultivated  countries,  it  is  con- 
ceded that  the  wisest  use  of  manure  is  to  apply 
it  to  meadow  land.  How  much  more  valuable 
is  it  to  apply  manure  to  land  which  gives  all 
the  good  results  of  hay  without  the  cost  and 
trouble  of  cutting,  curing  and  housing  it  ?  In 
any  movement  toward  an  improved  agricul- 
ture at  the  South,  the  first  step  should  be  the 
laying  down  of  rich  winter  pastures. 

ORCHARD   GRASS. 

This  valuable  grass  ranks  next  in  impor- 
tance to  the  tall  meadow-oat  grass  for  hay  and 
winter  pasture.  It  succeeds  very  well  at  the 
South  on  drained  and  dry  bottom  land,  or  on 
rich  upland.  There  is  a  peculiarity  about  it. 
The  writer  has  never  observed  it  to  spread 
from  the  scattering  of  its  own  seeds.  From 
some  unaccountable  reason  the  shattered  seed 
does  not  vegetate,  if,  therefore,  it  be  sowed 
too  thin  it  does  not  fill  the  gap,  and  presents 
an  unsightly  appearance  and  gives  inferior 
grasses  a  chance  to  occupy  the  vacant  space. 

Orchard  grass  for  hay  should  be  cut  as  soon 
as  it  begins  to  blossom ;  if  cut  then,  the  hay  is 
sweet,  tender  and  nutritious,  but  if  the  cutting 
be  deferred  until  the  seed  has  formed,  the  hay 
will  be  hard  and  valueless. 

After  cutting,  orchard  grass  springs  rapidly, 
and  the  aftergrowth  is  heavy.  This  should  not 
be  pastured  during  the  summer  or  fall,  but 
should  be  reserved  for  winter  grazing.  It 
should  be  treated  as  above  directed  in  the  case 
of  the  tall  meadow-oat  grass. 

The  seed  of  orchard  grass  is  also  very  light 
and  chaffy,  and  therefore  two  bushels  should 
be  sowed  to  the  acre. 

This  grass  was  introduced  into  England 
from  Virginia,  in  1764.  It  is  very  highly 
valued  in  that  country,  and  in  the  Northern 
States  it  holds  a  high  rank  as  a  hay  and  pas- 
ture grass.  But  its  chief  benefit  is  lost  at  the 
North,  as  it  cannot  be  pastured  there  during 
the  winter. 

Orchard  grass  is  not  suited  to  wet  bottom 
land,  but  thrives  in  a  rich  upland.  It  grows 
well  in  an  orchard  or  in  thinned  woodland. 
With  the  exception  of  meadow-oat  grass, 
orchard  grass  stands  a  drought  better  than  any 
other  of  the  cultivated  grasses. 

Where  hay  is  an  object,  these  two  grasses, 
meadow-oat  and  orchard  grass,  should  be 
sowed  with  red  clover  and  white,  as  each  of 
the  four  blossoms  at  the  same  time,  and  is, 


therefore,  simultaneously  ready  for  the  scythe. 
They  answer  also  to  mix  with  clover  in  a  rota- 
tion, where  the  clover  is  to  stand  two  or  three 
years,  as  they  mature  rapidly,  and  assist  in 
giving  a  compact  sod.  The  farmer  should  re- 
member, that  a  sod  of  good  grass  and  clover 
turned  under  is  quite  equal  in  value  to  a  costly 
application  of  either  putrescent  or  purchased 
manures.  The  cultivation  of  these  two  grasses 
at  the  South  cannot  be  too  itrongly  recom- 
mended on  soils  adapted  to  them. 

ITALIAN  RYE  GRASS. 

This  is  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the 
grasses.  On  very  rich  land,  the  green  of  the 
blades  almost  approaches  blackness,  and  their 
shining  lustre  is  metallic.  It  seems  to  be  in- 
different to  climate  and  texture  of  soil,  requir- 
ing only  dryness  and  richness.  It  thrives  as 
well  in  the  severe  climate  of  Scotland  as  in 
its  native  sunny  Italy. 

The  statements  of  the  yield  of  this  grass  on 
the  irrigated  lands  near  Edinburgh  are  almost 
incredible.  It  has  been  grown  with  success 
in  all  parts  of  this  State,  Georgia,  from  the 
sandy  lands  of  the  coast  to  the  blue  limestone 
lands  of  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State. 

It  is  an  annual,  and  should  be  sowed  in 
August  or  September,  at  the  rate  of  ten  pounds 
of  seed  to  the  acre.  Italian  rye  grass  sowed 
in  August  or  September  will  be  ready  for 
grazing  in  February.  Although  the  return  in 
winter  grazing  or  hay  is  very  large,  on  ac- 
count of  its  being  an  annual,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  it  be  really  more  valuable  than  bar- 
ley or  rye,  for  the  above  purposes. 

BLUE-GRASS. 

This  well-known  grass  is,  for  certain  pur- 
poses, one  of  much  value.  It  is  supposed  that 
it  is  adapted  only  to  a  limited  character  of 
soils  and  climate.  Kentuckians  will  tell  us 
that  the  successful  growth  of  this  grass  is 
monopolized  by  the  Blue-Grass  region  of 
Kentucky.  This  is  a  mistake.  The  lands  in 
Kentucky  on  which  the  blue-grass  grows  with 
such  vigor,  will  bring  fifty  to  seventy-five 
bushels  of  corn  to  the  acre.  Make  any  other 
lands  at  the  South,  unless  it  be  a  sand-bed, 
equally  rich,  and  blue-grass  will  grow  well  on 
them.  In  fact  it  is  native  in  localities  suited 
to  it  all  over  the  South.  It  will  be  observed 
everywhere  at  the  South,  about  abandoned 
settlements,  to  which  stock  have  not  had  ac- 
cess, and  especially  where  locust,  china-berry 
or  walnut  trees  are  growing,  that  both  blue- 
grass  and  white  clover  have  sprung  up  sponta- 
neously. The  writer  has  seen  it  growing  in 
protected  spots  along  the  roadsides  near  Sa- 
vannah. It  certainly  has  annoyed  him  by 
coming  an  unasked  volunteer  into  hie  mead- 
ows of  herdsgrass  and  timothy  in  the  blue 
limestone  bottoms  of  Bartow  County. 

There  are  three  reasons  why  it  is  generally 


20 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


supposed  that  blue-grass  will  not  succeed  at 
the  South. 

It  has  been  sown  on  land  that  is  too  poor. 
It  requires  a  soil  naturally  or  artificially  rich. 

Because  it  is  burned  up  in  a  dry  summer,  it 
is  concluded  that  it  is  a  failure,  and  is 
ploughed  up.  In  Kentucky  and  in  Ohio, 
blue-grass  frequently  becomes  so  dry  in  the 
summer  that  it  would  burn  up,  if  set  on  fire. 
But  as  soon  as  the  cool  weather  and  the  rains 
of  autumn  set  in,  it  resumes  its  green  color 
and  renews  its  growth.  The  same  result  will 
occur  in  the  cotton  States. 

It  may  be  remarked  in  passing,  that  all  the 
winter  grasses  stop  their  growth  and  turn 
more  or  less  yellow  during  the  dry  heat  of 
summer  at  the  South.  This  is  to  be  expected. 
Everything  which  grows,  animal  or  vegeta- 
ble, must  have  a  period  of  sleep  or  rest.  The 
grass  which  grows  at  the  North  during  the 
summer,  rests  during  the  winter.  The  con- 
verse is  true.  The  grass  which  grows  at  the 
South  during  the  winter,  must  rest  during  the 
summer.  Hence,  winter  grasses  at  the  South 
should  not  be  pastured  during  the  summer, 
but  should  be  left  with  a  covering  of  their 
own  leaves  to  shield  them  from  the  heat  of 
the  sun,  and  make  the  sleep  of  the  roots  com- 
fortable. 

The  third  mistake  in  the  cultivation  of  blue- 
grass  arises  from  an  ignorance  of  the  habits 
of  the  plant.  When  it  first  comes  up  it  is  as 
fine  as  a  needle,  hardly  visible  to  the  most 
carefni  inspection.  It  increases  its  size  but 
little  during  the  first  summer.  Even  the  next 
year  the  stand  will  seem  to  be  imperfect.  But 
in  the  third  and  fourth  year  it  spreads  like 
magic,  and  occupies  the  whole  ground.  When 
a  man  goes  into  the  lot  on  which  he  has  sowed 
blue-grass  seed,  finds  month  after  month  no 
blue-grass,  but  a  crop  of  weeds  as  high  as  his 
head,  he  concludes  that  it  is  a  failure,  ploughs 
up  the  ground,  and  next  spring  puts  it  in 
cotton. 

If  a  piece  of  ground  be  made  very  rich,  and 
good  blue-grass  seed  be  sowed  upon  it,  there 
will  be  no  failure.  Give  it  time  and  it  will 
take  possession  of  the  ground,  even  though  it 
be  invisible  the  first  year. 

On  account  of  its  slow'  maturity,  blue-grass 
seed  should  never  be  sowed  by  itself.  It 
should  be  mixed  with  red  and  white  clover, 
meadow-oat  and  orchard  grass.  These  will 
occupy  the  ground  at  once,  and  the  blue-grass 
will  advance  slowly,  but  in  the  end  will  whip 
the  whole  of  them  out,  except  the  white  clover. 
For  this  reason  blue-grass  should  never  be 
sowed  with  grasses  designed  for  permanent 
meadow,  as  it  will  be  certain  finally  to  root 
them  out. 

On  very  rich  land,  blue-grass  will  make  hay 
excellent  in  quality,  but  small  in  quantity.  Its 
chief  value  is  for  winter  pasture.  While  they 
last,  meadow-oat  and  orchard  grass  are  much 
superior  to  it.  But  the  permanence  of  blue- 


j  grass  gives  it  a  great  advantage.  It  will  last 
an  indefinite  number  of  years.  After  having 

I  been  long  grazed  it  becomes  what  is  popularly 
called  "  hide-bound,"  and  ceases  to  thrive.  If 
a  coulter  is  then  run  through  it  both  ways, 

I  thoroughly  tearing  the  sod,  the  grass  will  re- 

I  new  its  youth  and  spring  again  with  great 
vigor. 

Blue-grass,  designed  for  winter  pasture, 
should  be  treated  in  the  same  way  with  mead- 
ow-oat and  orchard  grass.  Thus  treated,  it 
will  not  only  last,  but  will  continue  to  im- 
prove. This  improvement  will  be  the  more 
decided  if  the  stock  grazing  it  are  suffered  to 
remain  all  night  upon  it.  It  should  be  re- 
membered, in  the  treatment  of  pastures,  tbat 
a  large  portion  of  the  excrement  of  live  stock 
is  voided  during  the  night,  or  when  they  first 
rise  in  the  morning.  This  is,  of  course,  lost 
to  the  pasture  when  the  stock  are  driven  to 
the  yard  at  night. 

Blue-grass  will  bear  more  shade  than  any 
other  grass,  and  it  should,  therefore,  be  the 
main  reliance  in  woodland  pastures.  While  it 
affords  excellent  grazing  for  horses,  cattle,  and 
sheep,  its  greatest  value  is  for  hogs,  especially 
in  woodland  pastures.  The  trees  thinned  out 
and  trampled  around  scarcely  ever  fail  in  their 
mast,  and  between  the  acorns  and  grass,  hogs 
can  be  raised  and  nearly  fattened  at  very  small 
expense. 

Four  quarts  of  seed  should  be  sown  to  the 
acre.  No  stock  should  be  allowed  to  go  on 
the  ground  the  first  year,  nor  indeed  the  sec- 
ond, until  about  the  first  of  June,  when  a  por- 
tion of  the  grass  has  gone  to  seed. 

There  is,  perhaps,  more  nmriment  in  a 
given  amount  of  blue-grass  than  any  other 
grass  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  Ber- 
muda. Live  stock  will  keep  fat  on  it,  when 
they  seem  to  be  biting  into  the  very  clay  or 
gravel.  Close  grazing  does  not  injure  it  as  it 
does  many  other  grasses,  from  the  fact  that  it 
is  stoloniferous,  or  runs  and  spreads  from  the 
roots.  On  the  whole,  it  is  an  exceedingly 
valuable  grass  to  the  Southern  farmer  who 
owns  land  rich  enough  to  produce  it. 

The  grasses  named,  viz:  meadow-oat,  or- 
chard, and  blue-grass,  must  be  our  chief  reli- 
ance for  permanent  winter  grass  pasture.  The 
wild  rye,  or  Terrel  grass,  will  be  found  to  be 
a  useful  adjunct.  These  four  should  be  sowed 
together. 

HAY  GRASSES. 

The  grasses  already  described  have  their 
value  as  hay  grasses,  but  are  most  valuable 
for  their  winter  use.  There  are  other  grasses 
which  are  not  green  during  the  winter,  which 
afford  little  aftermath,  and  which  are  valuable 
solely  for  their  hay.  At  the  head  of  these 
stands 

TIMOTHY. 

The  history  of  this  valuable  grass  is  in  some 
doubt.  Loudon,  in  his  Encyclopedia  of  Agri- 


Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


21 


culture,  states  that  it  is  a  native  of  South  Caro- 
lina, and  was  introduced  into  England  in  1780, 
by  Timothy  Hudson.  Flint  says  that  by  some 
persons  it  was  said  to  have  been  introduced 
into  England  from  Virginia,  in  1760,  by  one 
Peter  Wynne.  It  is  sometimes  called  cat-tail, 
from  the  shape  of  the  head.  In  New  England 
it  is  called  Herd's  grass,  as  a  man  of  that 
name  found  it  growing  in  a  swamp  in  New 
Hampshire.  This  should  be  borne  in  mind, 
when  we  are  reading  New  England  agricul- 
tural newspapers,  otherwise  we  shall  be  con- 
fused. What  we  call  herdsgrass,  they  call 
red-top. 

As  a  mere  hay  grass  timothy  is,  perhaps, 
unrivalled.  It  is  extremely  nutritious.  Four 
tons  of  this  excellent  hay  have  been  frequently 
cut  from  an  acre. 

It  is  useful  only  as  a  hay  grass.  It  has  little 
or  no  aftermath ;  it  is  not  green  during  the 
winter.  It  should  rarely  be  pastured,  as  its 
roots  are  bulbous,  and  the  plant  is  easily  de- 
stroyed by  close  grazing. 

The  soil  suited  to  it  is  the  richest  of  bottom 
land  that  is  dry  enough  for  wheat.  At  the 
South  it  does  not  thrive  on  upland.  The 
well-drained  rice  land  of  the  coast  would  pro- 
duce it  in  perfection.  In  our  city  markets 
timothy  hay  commands  a  higher  price  than 
any  other. 

This  grass  should  not  be  sown  with  clover, 
as  the  clover  is  ready  to  cut  before  the  timo- 
thy. There  must  be  a  loss  in  one  or  the  other. 
Timothy  should  be  cut  when  it  is  in  full  blos- 
som. As  it  is  a  late  grass  it  has  this  advan- 
tage, that  the  wheat  crop  may  be  saved  before 
the  Timothy  is  ready.  Twelve  pounds  of  seed 
should  be  sowed  to  the  acre. 

HERD'S  GRASS. 

For  hay  alone  this  grass  ranks  next  to  Tim- 
othy. The  soil  best  suited  to  it  is  moist,  swamp 
land.  It  will  grow  almost  in  running  water. 
It  yields  a  valuable  return  on  thinner  land 
than,  perhaps, 'any  other  of  the  cultivated 
grasses.  Its  chief  requisite  seems  to  be  moist- 
ure. There  are  large  bodies  of  pipe-clay  land 
at  the  South  which  will  produce  nothing  but 
oats,  which  will  make  fair  Herd's  grass  mead- 
ows. Of  course  the  richer  the  land  the  greater 
the  yield.  The  hay  is  good  in  quality,  and 
sometimes  very  large  in  quantity.  The  grass 
should  be  cut  just  as  the  seed  begins  to  ripen, 
and  before  the  stalk  has  changed  its  color. 
Sow  a  peck  of  seed  to  the  acre. 

Timothy  and  Herd's  grass  should  be 
sowed  together,  as  they  are  ready  for  the 
scythe  at  the  same  time.  This  mixture  is 
better  than  either  grass  singly.  The  Timo- 
thy will  be  some  eighteen  inches  taller  than 
the  Herd's  grass,  and  the  mixture  of  the 
two  will  give  a  heavy  cutting  close  to  the 
ground. 

In  the  preceding  description  all  the  forage 
plants  and  grasses  are  noticed  which  the 


writer  believes  are  practically  useful  at  the 
South.  A  great  number  of  other  plants  and 
grasses  have  been  tried  by  him  in  a  series  of 
experiments  running  through  thirty  years, 
and  have  been  rejected  as  unsuited  to  our  soil 
and  climate. 

TIME  OF  SOWING  GRASS  SEEDS. 

Experience  has  proved,  so  far  as  the  obser- 
vation of  the  writer  goes,  that  August  or 
early  in  September  is  the  best  time  to  sow 
grass  seeds,  or  about  the  same  time  with  sow- 
ing turnips.  There  is  usually  sufficient  rain 
at  that  season  to  cause  the  seeds  to  germinate. 
The  young  plants  will  have  time  to  make 
sufficient  root  to  stand  the  severest  cold  of 
winter.  When  sown  at  this  time  there  is  a 
gain  of  a  season,  as  clover,  lucerne,  and  sev- 
eral of  the  grasses,  if  sowed  without  grain  in 
August,  will  give  a  cutting  in  the  following 
spring.  Should  there  be  a  failure  of  the  seed, 
an  opportunity  to  re-sow  will  occur  in  the  fol- 
lowing February. 

Grass  seed  sown  late  in  the  fall  is  liable  to 
be  winter  killed.  If  the  farmer  cannot  sow 
early  in  the  fall,  it  will  be  wise  in  him  to  de- 
fer sowing  until  the  ordinary  time  of  sowing 
oats.  The  different  parts  of  the  South  vary 
so  much  in  climate,  that  it  would  be  wrong, 
perhaps,  to  specify  any  particular  month  or 
months  for  sowing  grass  seeds.  The  general 
rule  may  be  stated,  the  application  of  which 
will  vary  according  to  locality,  that  it  is  best 
to  sow  sufficiently  early  in  the  fall  to  avoid 
danger  from  freezing,  or  if  deferred  until 
spring,  the  usual  time  of  sowing  spring 
oats. 

SOWING  WITH  OB  WITHOUT  GBAIN. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  sowing  grass 
seed  with  grain  should  always  be  avoided,  un- 
less necessity  requires  It.  The  objections  to 
this  practice  are,  that  it  involves  the  loss  of  a 
year  in  either  hay  or  pasture  As  has  been 
stated,  clover,  lucerne  and  several  of  the 
grasses,  if  sown  early  in  the  fall  without 
grain,  will  give  a  cutting  or  maybe  pastured 
in  the  following  spring.  If  sown  with  grain, 
the  grass  will  be  of  no  practical  use  during 
the  season  after  the  grain  is  cut.  No  grass 
should  ever  be  cut  or  pastured  until  after  it 
has  gone  to  seed  once.  This  seeding  will  se- 
cure a  full  occupation  of  the  soil.  Of  a  wet 
season,  clover  and  some  of  the  grasses  may 
seed  late  in  the  fall  after  grain  is  cut,  they 
may  then  be  pastured  lightly  with  calves  or 
sheep.  But  the  grass  is  of  little  value  during 
that  entire  year. 

There  is  another  objection  to  sowing  grasa 
seed  with  grain.  When  the  grain  is  cut,  the 
young  grass  and  clover  are  very  tender,  hav- 
ing been  shaded  by  the  grain.  The  cutting 
suddenly  exposes  them  to  the  sun  at  the  hot- 
test season  of  the  year.  There  is  great  danger, 
therefore,  that  they  will  be  burned  out.  If 


22 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


sowed  alone  the  heat  affects  them  gradually, 
and  if  the  ground  is  occupied  by  weeds,  these 
mature  and  decay  slowly,  and  not  until  au- 
tumn admits  the  heat  of  the  sun  to  the  young 
grass. 

The  justification  of  sowing  grass  seed  with 
grain  is  our  present  poverty.  It  may  be,  and 
in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  it  will  be,  necessary 
to  manure  heavily  land  to  be  put  in  grass. 
The  necessities  of  the  farmer  require  that  the 
cost  of  the  manure  should  be  repaid  the  first 
year.  In  that  event,  he  must  sow  grain  with 
his  grass  seed,  but  always  remembering  that 
by  so  doing  he  loses  a  year  and  endangers  the 
grass. 

When  grain  and  grass  are  mixed  both  may 
be  sowed  either  in  the  fall  or  spring.  Or  the 
grain  may  be  sowed  early  in  the  fall,  as  oats 
among  cotton,  the  grain  may  be  pastured 
during  the  winter,  and  in  the  spring  it  may 
be  harrowed,  clover  and  grass  seed  sown 
upon  it,  and  then  rolled.  The  grain  will 
be  benefitted  by  the  harrowing  and  rolling, 
although  at  the  time  it  may  look  like  de- 
struction. 

"WHETHER  IT    IS   BEST   TO   SOW   A  VAKIETT  OF 
GRASS  SEEDS. 

The  only  instance  in  which  it  is  advisable 
to  sow  the  seed  of  a  single  grass  or  forage 
plant,  are  in  the  case  of  lucerne,  which  will 
not  bear  admixture,  clover  in  a  rotation,  or 
where  it  is  desired  to  save  the  seed  of  a  par- 
ticular grass.  Perhaps  in  all  other  cases  a 
variety  of  grass  seeds  should  be  sown. 

The  reasons  for  this  practice  are  obvious. 
There  are  certain  grasses  which  are  called 
jungle  or  tussock  grasses.  These  do  not  spread 
from  the  root,  but  grow  in  bunches,  as  orch- 
ard and  meadow-oat  grass.  It  is  necessary 
that  some  running  grasses  should  be  sown 
with  them  to  fill  up  the  interstices,  other- 
wise broom-sedge,  nimble-will,  or  that  pest, 
the  native  fox- tail,  will  take  possession. 

Again  the  appetites  of  the  grasses  differ  as 
much  as  that  of  the  cereals.  The  food  which 
one  grass  rejects,  another  devours.  We 
should  imitate  nature.  If  we  will  take  a  foot 
square  of  land  which  has  been  a  long  time  in 
grass,  we  shall  be  surprised  to  find  the  num- 
ber of  different  grasses  which  it  contains. 
The  lesson  taught  us  is  obvious.  We  should 
sow  a  sufficient  variety  of  seeds  to  consume 
every  variety  of  food,  and  so  to  occupy  the 
ground  as  to  keep  out  all  intruders.  Un- 
fortunately, the  list  of  grasses  suitable  to  our 
climate  is  limited.  We  should  use  them  to 
their  fullest  extent.  At  the  hazard  of  some 
repetition  the  variety  of  forage  plants  and 
grasses  and  the  quantity  of  seed  to  be  sown  is 
given. 

PROPER  MIXTURE    OF    GRASS    SEEDS    FOR   DIF- 
FERENT  PURPOSES. 

For  a  rotation  and  to  improve  the  soil,  red 
clover  and  orchard  grass — four  quarts  of 


clover  and  one  bushel  of  orchard  grass  and 
one  bushel  of  meadow-oat  grass.  These 
grasses  are  selected  in  connection  with  clover 
because  they  mature  rapidly  ;  a  slow-spread- 
ing grass  like  blue-grass  would  not  answer  in 
a  rotation  when  the  grass  would  occupy  the 
ground  only  two  or  three  years.  These  two 
grasses  produce  in  the  run  of  a  year,  a  vast 
quantity  of  vegetable  matter.  The  chief  value 
of  the  clover  is  the  amount  of  ammonia  which 
it  draws  from  the  atmosphere,  and  by  the  de- 
cay of  its  roots  and  leaves  imparts  to  the  soil. 
These  grasses  would  give  an  additional  sward, 
which  turned  under  would  supply  a  large 
amount  of  humus,  so  necessary  to  our  d~e- 
nuded  and  exhausted  soil.  The  sward  of  both 
these  grasses,  being  in  themselves  rich  food, 
when  turned  under,  makes  rich  soil.  The 
farmer  should  always  remember  that  plants 
differ  greatly  in  their  value  as  manures.  All 
vegetable  matters  ploughed  into  the  soil  are 
a  manure,  but  their  value  differs  as  much  as 
our  currency  and  gold.  Both  pass  as  money 
but  there  is  a  material  difference  in  their 
value.  The  same  remark  holds  true  as  to  the 
value  of  the  manure  of  animals  fed  on  differ- 
ent kinds  of  food.  One-fourth  of  the  mnnure 
of  an  animal  fed  on  cotton-seed  meal,  will  go 
as  far  in  enriching  a  soil  as  the  whole  of  the 
manure  of  the  same  animal  fed  on  shucks  or 
straw. 

GRASS  SEEDS  FOR  MEADOW  LAND. 

One  peck  of  Timothy,  four  quarts  of  Herd's 
grass,  and  four  quarts  of  white  clover  per 
acre.  If  it  be  desired  to  obtain  immediate 
results,  four  quarts  of  red  clover  may  be 
added.  This  will  disappear  in  two  years  if  it 
be  mowed  so  as  not  to  be  allowed  to  seed. 
For  a  permanent  purpose  the  addition  of  red 
clover  is  not  judicious,  because,  as  has  been 
previously  remarked,  it  is  ready  for  the  scythe 
long  before  either  Timothy  or  Herd's  grass. 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  word 
meadow  is  generally  applied  to  bottom  land 
in  grass.  When  upland  is  mowed  it  is  usually 
designated  as  upland  meadow.  -Neither 
Timothy  nor  Herd's  grass  are  suitable  for 
mowing  on  upland. 

FOR  SUMMER  PASTURES. 

Our  best  summer  pastures  are  Bermuda 
and  crab-grass.  Red  clover  is  valuable  dur- 
ing the  spring  and  autumn.  Herd's  grass  will 
ive  fair  summer  pasture  on  upland,  especi- 
ally on  north  hillsides;  white  clover  is  ex- 
tremely valuable  for  certain  kinds  of  stock  ; 
but,  like  red  clover,  after  the  seed  has  been 
matured,  it  salivates  horses.  Little  reliance 
can  be  placed  on -the  cultivated  grasses  for 
summer  pasture  ;  we  are,  however,  abundant- 
ly supplied  with  natural  grasses 

FOR  WINTER  PASTURE. 

Meadow-oat  grass,  orchard,  blue  and  Ter- 
rell grass,  or  wild  rye,  and  red  and  white 


Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


23 


clover.  One  bushel  of  orchard,  meadow-oat 
and  wild  rye,  each,  four  quarts  each  of  blue- 
grass  and  red  and  white  clover.  The  blue- 
grass  and  white  clover  will  ultimately  take 
possession  of  the  soil.  This  winter  pasture 
should  not  be  grazed  after  June  or  before 
Christmas. 

FOR  EARLY  SPRING  SOILING. 

Lucerne  comes  very  early  in  the  spring, 
and  may  be  used  then  for  soiling  and  after- 
ward for  hay.  A  still  earlier  soiling  reliance 
would  be  a  half  bushel  of  barley,  a  peck  of 
Italian  rye-grass,  and  the  same  of  winter 
vetches.  For  this  purpose  land  should  be 
made  very  rich.  On  such  lands,  in  most  parts 
of  the  South,  this  mixture  can  be  cut  in  Feb- 
ruary. In  the  absence  of  permanent  winter 
pastures  it  would  be  found  of  great  value  to 
the  farmer.  It  has  this  advantage,  that  its 
results  may  be  realized  within  a  few  months 
after  the  seed  is  sown. 

SELECTION   OF  SEEDS — BUYING  BY  WKIOHT  OR 
MEASURK,  WITH  A  TABLE  OF  WEIGHTS. 

One  of  the  great  drawbacks  to  grass  cul- 
ture at  the  South  is  the  cost  of  grass  seeds.  It 
is  of  the  utmost  importance,  therefore,  that 
the  grass  seeds  should  be  good.  Gross  im- 
positions are  often  practiced  upon  us  by  the 
seedsmen.  Grass  seeds  three  years  old  are 
unreliable.  Old  seeds  are  often  mixed  with 
those  that  are  fresh  The  fresh  will  vegetate, 
the  others  will  not.  The  farmer  attributes 
the  bad  stand  to  the  bad  climate  or  his  bad 
management,  when  it  is  attributable  to  the 
bad  seed. 

Flint  gives  an  easy  way  of  determinng  the 
freshness  of  grass  seeds :  "  Take  two  pieces 
of  thick  cloth,  moisten  them  with  water,  and 
place  them,  one  upon  the  other,  in  the  bottom 
of  a  saucer.  Place  any  number  of  seeds 
which  it  is  desired  to  try  upon  the  cloth, 
spreading  them  so  as  not  to  allow  them  to 
cover  or  touch  each  other.  Cover  them  over 
with  a  third  piece  of  cloth,  similar  to  the 
others,  moistened  in  the  same  manner.  Then 
place  the  saucer  in  a  moderately  warm  place. 
Sufficient  water  must  be  turned  on  from  time 
to  time  to  keep  the  three  thicknesses  of  cloth 
moist,  but  great  care  must  be  taken  not  to  use 
too  much  water,  as  this  would  destroy  the 
seed.  There  should  be  only  enough  to  moist- 
en the  cloth,  and  not  enough  to  allow  any  to 
stand  in  the  saucer.  Danger  from  this  source 
may  be  avoided,  in  a  great  measure,  however, 
by  tipping  up  the  saucer,  so  as  to  permit  any 
superfluous  water  in  it  to  drain  off.  The  cloth 
used  for  covering  may  be  gently  raised  each 
day  to  watch  the  progress  of  the  swelling  or 
molding  of  the  seeds.  The  good  seed  will  be 
found  to  swell  gradually,  while  the  old  or 
poor  seed,  which  has  lost  its  germinating 
power,  will  become  moldy  in  a  very  few 
days.» 


In  this  way,  also,  any  one  can  judge  whether 
old  seed  is  mixed  with  new.  The  latter  will 
germinate  much  more  quickly  than  the  for- 
mer. He  can,  moreover,  judge  of  the  quantity 
which  he  must  sow,  since  he  can  tell  whether 
a  half,  or  three-fourths,  or  the  whole,  will  be 
likely  to  germinate,  and  can  regulate  his  sow- 
ing accordingly.  The  seeds  of  the  clovers,  if 
they  are  new  and  fresh,  will  show  their  germs 
on  the  third  or  fourth  day  ;  other  seeds  will 
take  a  little  longer ;  but  till  they  become  coat- 
ed with  a  mold  there  is  hope  of  their  germi- 
nating. As  soon  as  the  mold  appears  it  is 
decisive,  and  the  seed  that  molds  is  worthless. 

It  is  always  best  to  buy  grass  seeds  by 
weight,  rather  than  by  measure.  Knowing 
the  weight  of  the  different  grass  seeds,  the 
buyer  can  determine  whether  he  has  been  im- 
posed on  by  the  seedsman  better  than  if  he 
bought  by  measure.  The  following  is  a  list 
of  the  weight  of  the  seeds  of  forage  plants 
and  grasses  suitable  to  the  South  : 

Herd's  grass,  weight  of  a  bushel  of  seed,  14  Ibs. 

Timothy 44    " 

Meadow-oat  grass 7    " 

Orchard  grass 12     ' 

Italian  ryergrass 15 

Blue-grass 13 

Bed  clover 64 

White  clover 65 

Crimson  clover 60 

Lucerne 60 

If  the  reader  will  trust  to  the  experience  of 
the  writer,  he  will  find  it  hardly  worth  his 
while  to  go  beyond  the  list  of  grasses  describ- 
ed in  this  Essay.  Full  trial  has  been  made 
of  more  than  twenty  other  species  of  grass 
cultivated  in  Europe  and  at  the  North,  witk- 
out  success. 

AFTER-TREATMENT  OF  GRASS  LAND. 

Fatal  errors  are  often  committed  in  the 
management  of  lands  in  grass.  As  soon  as 
the  young  grass  is  green  in  the  spring,  live 
stock  is  turned  upon  it ;  whereas  grass  should 
not  be  grazed  until  it  has  once  gone  to  seed, 
and  in  subsequent  years  only  after  it  is  nearly 
in  blossom.  Too  much  stock  should  at  no 
time  be  put  upon  it  as  to  graze  it  close  to  the 
ground,  Bermuda  and  blue-grass  being  excep- 
tions. 

A  thin  growth  of  the  annual  grasses  and 
weeds  is  not  injurious  to  newly  sown  grass 
lands,  but  is  rather  beneficial,  shading  the 
young  grass  from  the  sun.  But  lands  suffi- 
ciently rich  to  give  a  vigorous  growth  of  the 
artificial  grasses,  is  also  apt  to  produce  a  rank 
growth  of  crab  grass  and  weeds.  If  these  are 
suffered  to  mature,  the  young  grass  will  be 
smothered.  They  should  be  mowed  as  soon 
as  they  are  tall  enough  for  the  scythe,  and  this 
mowing  must  be  repeated  as  often  as  necessa- 
ry, to  keep  down  the  rank  growth.  And  if  in 


24 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


the  fall,  the  young  grass  kept  back  by  these 
weeds  should  be  hardly  visible,  it  must  not 
be  concluded  that  there  has  been  a  failure ; 
wait  until  the  spring  and  then  determine 
whether  it  is  best  or  not  to  put  in  some  other 
crop. 

MANURES  FOR  GRASS  LAND. 

The  best  manure  is  farm-yard  manure. 
Where  the  supply  of  this  is  limited  its  value 
may  be  increased  by  composting  it  with  rich 
earth  from  ditches,  woods-mould  and  ashes ; 
or  the  quantity  of  manure  may  be  incre;ised 
by  composting  commercial  or  chemical  ma- 
nures with  the  same  materials.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  ammonia  and  potash  are  the 
dominant  wants  of  the  grasses,  and  phosphate 
of  lime  of  the  clovers  and  lucerne. 

This  compost  applied  in  the  winter  is  valu- 
able not  only  on  account  of  the  manure,  but 
especially  for  the  mulch  that  is  given  to  the 
young  grass,  protecting  it  from  the  severity  of 
the  winter  and  the  intense  heat  of  summer. 
Indeed,  if  the  land  be  sufficiently  rich  to  cause 
a  full  stand  of  grass,  this  subsequent  top-dress- 
ing is  really  more  valuable  than  if  the  ma- 
nure had  been  incorporated  with  the  soil  at 
the  time  of  sowing.  This  top-dressing  should 
be  applied  only  in  dry  weather. 

If  no  stock  is  allowed  to  graze  a  meadow 
after  it  has  been  cut  until  toward  Christmas, 
and  if  the  meadow  consist  of  grasses  which 
bear  a  full  aftermath,  as  in  the  case  with  or- 
chard, meadow-oat  and  blue-grass,  and  if  the 
stock  grazing  it  are  not  removed  at  night,  such 
a  meadow  will  continue  to  improve.  This  is 
not  the  case  with  a  Timothy  and  Herd's  grass 
meadow,  as  they  leave  very  little  second 
growth  or  aftermath.  They  should  receive  a 
top-dressing  at  least  every  three  years.  If  the 
farm  does  not  produce  the  manure,  the  farmer 
should  buy  it.  An  acre  of  land  that  will  yield 
two  tons  of  hay  worth  $60,  well  deserves  a 
triennial  application  of  $10  worth  of  purchas- 
ed fertilizer.  It  will  pay  better  than  the  same 
application  to  cotton  land,  taking  into  the  ac- 
count the  cost  of  culture. 

The  cheapest  manure  for  grass  land  is  water 
by  means  of  irrigation.  But  the  limits  of  this 
little  Manual  will  not  allow  a  detailed  ac- 
count of  this  cheap  and  important  process 
The  reader  who  is  interested  in  it  is  respect- 
fully referred  to  a  Prize  Essay  on  that  subject 
by  the  writer,  which  was  published  in  the 
Plantation,  Atlanta,  1871. 

WHETHER  TO  SELL  HAY  OR  TO  FEED  IT. 

This  depends  upon  our  locality  and  the 
price  we  can  get  for  our  hay.  If  hay  sells  for 
$30  or  $35  per  ton,  a  farmer  who  lives  near  a 
market  would  be  very  foolish  to  feed  that  hay 
to  cattle,  provided  he  will  invest  a  portion  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  hay  in  chemical  or  com- 
mercial fertilizers.  In  our  mild  winters  a  cow 
will  eat  five  hundred  pounds  of  hay,  and  much 


more  if  it  be  given  to  her.  But  after  the  run 
of  the  fields  five  hundred  pounds  of  hay  will 
sustain  her  until  grass  springs.  This  five 
hundred  pounds  of  hay  would  sell  for  six  or 
seven  dollars.  If  we  deduct  trouble  of  hous- 
ing and  hauling,  the  manure  of  this  covr  is 
not  worth  the  six  or  seven  dollars.  If  she  be 
fed  on  winter  pastures,  that  is  another  affair. 
The  question  now  is  between  the  value  of 
a  given  amount  of  hay,  merchantable  at  a 
given  price,  and  the  valueof  a  winter's 
manure  of  a  cow.  Six  or  seven  dollars, 
worth  of  a  suitable  fertilizer  will  go  furher 
in  improving  a  meadow  than  the  manure 
of  one  cow,  unless  extraordinary  expense 
is  incurred  and  care  bestowed  in  providing 
litter,  muck  and  tanks  for  liquid  manure. 
But  in  determining  this  question  of  compara- 
tive profit,  it  must  be  quite  certain  that  the 
man  who  sells  the  hay  buys  the  six  or  seven 
dollars'  worth  of  fertilizer.  If  he  does  not, 
it  will  be  better  for  him- to  feed  his  hay,  no 
matter  what  price  it  will  bring  in  market,  for 
his  meadow  must  have  manure 

It  isVery  clear  that  if  we  take  more  from 
land  than  we  give  to  it,  we  are  ripping  up  the 
goose.  A  very  small  leak  will  empty  a  bar- 
rel in  time,  unless  we  continue  to  pour  into  it. 
A  crop  of  hay  takes  so  much  of  a  variety  of 
salts  from  the  ground.  If  we  do  not  return 
an  equivalent,  our  crops  will  annually  dimin- 
ish- If  we  wish  them  to  increase,  we  must 
return  more  than  an  equivalent.  This  is  only 
common  sense. 

This  comparison  is  made  only  as  to  the 
value  of  the  manure  of  the  domestic  animals 
when  fed  with  hay.  There  may  be  a  special 
value  in  beef  or  butter,  or  in'mule  or  horse 
colts  which  would  modify  it.  It  is  important 
not  to  be  misunderstood.  When  hay  is  at  a 
high  price  and  the  market  is  near,  it  is  cheap- 
er to  spend  some  of  the  hay  money  for  ma- 
nure than  to  trust  to  the  cow  fed  on  hay 
simply  as  a  manure-making  animal. 

It  is  not  designed  to  decrease  the  number  of 
horses,  cattle  or  sheep,  but  to  point  to  the  fact 
that  hay  at  present  prices  is  too  expensive  a 
food  to  feed  them  with  when  they  can  be  fed 
much  more  cheaply,  and  that  is  by  means  of 
winter  pastures,  which  cost  nothing  after  the 
first  outlay,  and  continually  improved  by  judi- 
cious grazing. 

The  present  prices  of  hay,  $30  to  $35,  will 
probably  continue  for  along  time  in  the  plan- 
tation States.  Under  our  former  system  the 
planter  could  pull  an  excess  of  fodder  and  sell 
it  at  a  small  profit  at  $1  per  hundred  pounds. 
Now  if  he  sold  fodder  pulled  by  our  present 
hired  labor  at  $30  per  ton,  it  would  be  a 
losing  business. 

There  are  a  vast  number  of  horses  and  cows 
in  our  cities  and  elsewhere  belonging  to  non- 
producers,  which  consume  bought  forage. 
This  number  is  yearly  increasing  with  the 
increase  of  our  non-producing  population. 


Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


25 


The  supply  of  forage  for  this  live  stock  has 
hereto  fore  been  brought  by  rail  from  the  West. 
On  account  of  the  cost  of  freights,  the  Western 
farmer  cannot  lay  down  hay  in  our  cities  at 
less  than  present  prices.  There  is,  therefore, 
no  reasonable  expectation  that  the  price  of 
hay  will  materially  diminish.  At  the  pre- 
sent prices,  to  one  living  near  a  railroad  or  a 
market,  the  profits  are  enormous. 

Let  us  take  a  case.  Lucerne  will  grow 
anywhere  in  the  South  where  the  land  is  not 
too  sandy,  is  dry,  and  is  made  very  rich. 
Five  tons  of  lucerne  hay  to  the  acre  is  not 
an  unreasonable  estimate,  but  we  will  say 
four  tons.  This  at  $30  per  ton,  is  $120  per 
acre. 

Now  suppose  a  man  buys  one  hundred  acres 
of  land — it  may  be  old  broom-sedge  with  a 
good  clay  foundation,  near  a  good  hay  mar- 
ket—at $10  per  acre,  $1,000.  Suppose  that 
it  costs  him  $40  per  acre  to  plough,  harrow, 
roll,  seed,  and  manure  this  land.  His  invest- 
ment will  have  been  $5,000.  At  four  tons 
per  acre,  worth  $30  per  ton,  his  crop  will 
bring  him  $12,000;  that  is  to  say,  $12,000 
grass  is  obtained  from  an  investment  of  $5,000. 
There  is  nothing  speculative  or  theoretic  in 
these  figures.  Every  one  who  knows  any- 
thing about  it,  knows  that  four  tons  to  the 
acre  is  a  small  yield  for  lucerne.  If  there  be 
an  error,  it  is  in  the  under-estimate.  Any 
one  who  reads  the  prices-current  of  our  news- 
papers also  knows  that  the  price  quoted 
above  is  correct.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  $5,000  investment  is  only  for  the 
first  ^  year.  After  that  the  $12,000  will  be 
obtained  with  only  the  cost  of  a  triennial  top- 
dressing  and  the  cutting  and  saving  the  crop, 
which  with  improved  implements  is  less  than 
$2  per  ton.  What  cotton  or  rice  planter  ap- 
proximates these  results  ? 

But  it  is  said,  perhaps,  with  a  sneer,  "  We 
are  poor  ?  None  of  us  have  $5,000  to  invest  in 
one  hundred  acres  of  grass."  Yes,  you  have, 
if  you  are  a  cotton  planter  to  any  extent.  Sell 
a  dozen  of  your  mules,  that  have  been  annu- 
ally eating  their  heads  off  since  the  war — the 
Southern  mule  being  like  a  cat  with  nine 
lives.  Sell  the  corn  and  fodder  that  would 
feed  them  for  a  year,  or  save  the  money  that 
would  buy  it.  Estimate  the  annual  cost  of 
the  twelve  hands  which  would  be  necessary  to 
work  the  twelve  mules,  and  if  you  have  the 
land  already,  you  will  have  saved  money 
enough  for  the  one  hundred  acres  of  lucerne. 

One  hundred  acres  has  been  selected  as  a 
definite  figure.  Of  course  the  amount  of  land 
can  be  diminished  according  to  the  ability  of 
the  party  concerned. 

In  this  calculation  lucerne  has  been  selected, 
as  four  tons  per  acre  is  an  under-estimate. 
Both  clover  and  Timothy  have  yielded  that 
amount  under  high  culture. 

It  is  not  at  all  the  design  of  the  writer  to 
propose  grass  of  any  kind  as  a  substitute  for 


cotton,  which  would  be  preposterous.  But  it 
is  his  purpose  to  urge  the  diminution  of  the 
area  planted  in  cotton,  to  impress  the  neces- 
sity of  a  diversification  of  our  products,  and 
the  wisdom  of  getting  the  benefit  to  ourselves 
of  these  high  prices  for  hay  while  they  last, 
which  must  be  for  a  number  of  years.  We 
want  a  cotton  crop,  a  wool  crop,  a  butter  and 
cheese  crop,  a  grain  crop,  and  a  hay  crop. 
We  want  all  of  these  to  a  greater  or  less  ex- 
tent, according  to  circumstances,  on  a  single 
plantation.  This  is,  of  course,  impossible  with 
what  we  call  a  full  crop  of  cotton,  which  re- 
quires all  hands  all  the  year.  But  it  is  pos- 
sible where  cotton  is  as  it  should  be,  one 
constituent  of  a  four  or  five  years'  rotation. 

IMPROVED  IMPLEMENTS  FOR  SAVING  HAY. 

When  land  has  stumps  in  it,  or  rocks  upon 
the  surface,  these  improved  implements  can- 
not be  used.  In  such  cases  the  grass  must 
be  cut  with  a  scythe.  Where  it  is  possible 
without  too  great  expense,  these  obstructions 
should  be  removed,  as  the  cost  of  saving  a 
crop  of  hay  is  greatly  reduced  by  the  use  of 
these  implements.  These  implements  are  the 
horse-mower,  tedder,  rake,  and  hay-lifter,  and 
loader.  With  their  aid  the  grass  is  not  touched 
by  hand,  either  in  cutting,  curing,  or  housing. 
The  saving  of  human  labor  is  more  than  one- 
half.  The  cost  is  diminished  more  than  one- 
half.  The  rapidity  with  which  the  work  is 
done  enables  us  to  command  the  weather.  At 
the  South  the  saving  of  human  labor  is  a 
great  object,  as  it  is  very  difficult  to  obtain  at 
harvest  time.  Any  one  having  ten  acres  of 
meadow  should  provide  himself  with  these 
implements.  The  saving  annually  will  be  a 
large  interest  on  his  money.  This  is  true 
where  skillful  mowers  can  be  obtained.  At 
the  South  they  are  very  rare.  It  is  seldom 
that  a  good  cradler  is  a  good  mower,  as  the 
movement  is  entirely  different. 

The  cost  of  a  light  two-horse  mowing  ma- 
chine is  from  $100  to  $120;  a  hay-tedder, 
$80 :  sulky  horse-rake,  $35 ;  say  in  all,  $250. 
If  we  allow  fifteen  per  cent,  for  interest  and 
repair,  this  would  amount  to  $37  50.  Much 
more  than  this  sum  would  be  saved  annually 
on  saving  the  hay  crop  of  ten  acres  of  meadow. 

RAISING  GRASS  SEED  FOR  SALE. 

The  amount  of  money  spent  for  Northern 
grass  seeds  at  the  South  is  very  large.  Last 
year  two  seedsmen  in  Atlanta  sold  during  the 
season  from  $75  to  $100  worth  of  clover  and 
grass  seeds  daily.  In  the  small  village  of 
Cartersville  $5,000  was  expended  in  one  sea- 
son for  clover  seed  alone.  The  consumption 
is  increasing  every  year.  There  is  no  good 
reason  why  we  should  not  raise  our  own  grass 
seeds  and  supply  our  own  dealers.  At  pre- 
sent prices  the  profits  would  be  large.  But 
little  labor  and  expense  attends  the  process. 
As  an  illustration,  the  writer  saved  this  year 


26 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and  Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


the  seed  from  a  little  more  than  an  acre  of 
meadow-oat  grass.  The  yield  was  six  bushels. 
This  at  five  dollars  per  bushel,  the  usual  price, 
would  amount  to  thirty  dollars.  The  grass 
was  cut  with  a  cradle  and  bound,  and  was 
threshed  with  a  flail.  The  hay  was  saved,  as 
the  seed  of  this  grass  ripens  while  the  stalk 
is  green.  Southern  farmers  should  stop  this 
leak  from  the  agricultural  income  of  the 
South.  Besides  the  direct  money  saving,  it 
would  be  best  to  use  acclimated  grass  seeds. 

WOODS  PASTURES. 

Most  of  our  woodland  is,  to  a  certain 
extent,  dead  capital.  This  is  not  the  case 
where  woodland  rises  sufficiently  in  value  to 
pay  a  fair  interest  on  the  investment,  or  so 
far  as  necessary  fence-rails  and  fuel  are  con- 
cerned. In  some  of  the  older  portions  of  the 
South  there  is  not  sufficient  timber  for  the 
wants  of  the  farm  ;  but  there  are  vast  tracts 
of  timber  land  in  other  portions  which  do  not 
appreciate  perceptibly  in  value,  and  which 
are  comparatively  useless.  Woojls  pastures 
which  correspond  to  the  English  parks,  would 
in  such  localities  be  found  very  profitable. 
The  timber  should  be  thinned  out,  leaving  the 
trees  thirty  to  fifty  feet  distant  from  each  other. 
Crooked  and  worthless  timber  should  be  cut, 
leaving  rail  and  mast-bearing  trees.  Every- 
thing that  is  cut  down  should  be  piled  and 
burned  in  as  small  heaps  as  possible,  to  allow 
the  ashes  to  be  more  readily  scattered.  There 
is  very  little  of  our  upland  which  is  rich 
enough  to  bring  good  grass  without  assistance. 
The  scattered  ashes  will  stimulate  the  young 
grass.  We  have  vast  quantities  of  bottom 
land  rich  enough  to  bring  good  grass,  but 
these  are  suitable  only  for  summer  pastures. 
They  would  be  poached  and  damaged  by  the 
feet  of  cattle  in  the  winter.  We  labor  under 
no  deficiency  of  summer  pastures — it  is  win- 
ter pasture  that  we  most  need.  For  this  we 
must  depend  on  our  upland,  unless  during  a 
very  dry  season  on  bottom  land. 

After  the  ground  is  prepared  by  cutting 
down,  burning  and  scattering  the  ashes,  it 
should  be  harrowed,  so  as  to  simply  loosen 
the  surface.  If  ploughed,  the  plough  will 
turn  up  tussocks  and  lumps,  and  if  these  are 
turned  back  again  on  the  grass  seed  after  it  is 
sown,  they  will  fail  to  vegetate.  If  sown  after 
the  ground  is  loosened,  before  a  rain  or  during 
a  drizzle,  no  covering  is  necessary.  If  in  a  dry 
time  a  light  brush  is  sufficient.  "Or  if  the  pas- 
ture be  small,  and  the  stock  of  cattle  or  sheep 
be  large,  penning  them  and  driving  them  about 
for  a  few  days  will  pack  the  seed  into  the 
ground  without  inverting  any  of  the  sods  or 
tussocks.  The  grass  seeds  recommended  for 
winter  pastures  would  be  sown  on  this  land, 
and  treated  as  prescribed  for  them. 

Woods  pastures  or  parks  thus  formed  will 


convert  dead  into  living  capital.  We  now 
pay  taxes  on  our  woodland ;  it  should  pay  us 
something  in  return.  A  woods  pasture  is  a 
great  relief  to  the  corn-crib  in  raising  hogs. 
Trees  trampled  around  and  thinned  rarely 
fail  in  bearing  mast.  This,  in  connection  with 
the  grass,  will  nearly  fatten  a  large  amount  of 
pork. 

They  are  also  a  great  saving  in  the  way  of 
shelter.  While  it  is  a  cruelty  "to  confine  stock 
in  a  bare  lot  without  shelter,  in  a  woods  pas- 
ture in  our  climate  they  really  do  not  need 
shelter.  This  is  especially  the  case  where 
they  can  have  access  to  a  south  hillside.  On 
such  spots  it  is  always  well  to  leave  a  thicket 
for  shelter. 

Scarcely  any  improvement  would  add  more 
to  the  value  of  our  landed  estate  than  woods 
pastures  or  parks.  Nothing  would  add  more 
to  its  beauty.  The  parks  of  England  are  one 
of  its  chief  ornaments — an  ornament  which  is 
also  an  utility.  Fine  oaks,  green  grass,  run- 
ning water,  and  blatant  sheep  or  lowing 
cattle,  form  a  landscape  which  the  painter 
attempts  in  vain  adequately  to  depict.  There 
is  no  reason  why  a  large  portion  of  the  neg- 
lected woodland  of  the  South  may  not  be 
made  to  add  to  our  weaith,  while  it  fills  the 
eye  with  scenes  of  beauty. 

NUTRITIVE  VALUE  OF  THE  GRASSES. 

The  following  tables  will  be  read  with  in- 
terest. They  were  prepared  by  Prof.  Way, 
Chemist  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society 
of  England.  Wherever  the  examination  of 
these  tables  is  not  instructive,  referring  as 
they  do  to  a  number  of  grasses  not  in  use 
among  us,  they  will  at  all  events  gratify 
commendable  curiosity.  In  these  tables,  a 
distinction  is  made  to  which  we  are  not 
accustomed.  The  grasses  are  all  called  natu- 
ral— those  which  we  term  "  forage  plants," 
are  called  artificial  grasses,  as  clover,  etc. 

These  tables  will  be  readily  understood  by 
the  unscientific  reader,  if  he  will  remember, 
that  Albuminous  matters  are  those  which 
produce  flesh,  that  fatty  matters  are  the 
fat  forming  principles,  that  the  heat  produc- 
ing principles,  include  all  others  besides 
those  which  form  flesh,  fats  or  woody  fibre, 
and  that  the  ash  includes  all  the  mineral 
matter  which  is  left  after  burning,  as  phos- 
phate of  lime,  potash,  etc.,  all  of  which  the 
plant  has  taken  from  the  soil.  These  valua- 
ble tables  deserve  other  explanatory  com- 
ments. But  these  comments  would  carry  us 
beyond  the  limits  of  a  merely  popular  manual 
for  the  unscientific  reader.  Those  who  are 
disposed  to  pursue  the  subject  further  are 
referred  to  Flint's  admirable  work  on  the 
Grasses,  published  by  Crosby,  Nichols  & 
Lee,  Boston,  Mass. 


ANALYSIS  OF  NATURAL  GRASSES.     (100  PARTS  AS  TAKEN  GREEN   FROM 

THE    FIELD.) 


NAMES  OF  GRASS. 

I 
£ 

Albuminous,  ori 
Flesh  Forming 
Principles. 

2 

s 

• 
£ 

3* 

N 

Heat  producing 
Principles, 
Starch,  Gum, 
Sugar,  etc. 

o> 

fc 

X3 

£ 

f 

o 

0 

Mineral  Matter 
or  Ash. 

Sweet-scented  Vernal  

8035 

2  05 

0  67 

8  54 

7  15 

1  24 

80  20 

2  44 

0  52 

8KQ 

6  70 

1  -fi^ 

Tall  Oat  Grass  

72  65 

3  54 

0  87 

11  21 

907 

2  3fi 

60  40 

2  96 

1  04 

18  66 

H22 

9  70 

61  50 

3  07 

0  92 

19  16 

13  34 

2  01 

51  85 

2  93 

1  45 

22  60 

17  00 

4  17 

59  57 

3  78 

1  36 

00  33 

19  00 

2  11 

76  62 

4  05 

0  47 

9  04 

84fi 

1     00 

62  73 

4  13 

1  32 

19  64 

9  80 

2  38 

Orchard   Grass  

70  00 

4  06 

0  94 

13  30 

10  11 

1  59 

Orchard  Grass,  seeds  ripe  

52  57 

10  93 

0  74 

12  61 

20  54 

2  61 

Hard  Fescue  Grass  

69  33 

3  70 

1  02 

12  46 

11  83 

1  66 

Meadow  Soft  Grass  

69.70 

3  49 

1  02 

11  92 

11  94 

1  93 

58  85 

4  59 

0  94 

20  05 

13  03 

2  54 

Perennial  Rye  Grass  

71  43 

3  37 

0  91 

12  08 

10  06 

2  15 

Italian  Rye  Grass  

75  61 

245 

0  80 

14  11 

4  82 

2  21 

67  21 

4  86 

1  50 

22  85 

11  32 

2  26 

79  14 

2  47 

0  71 

10  79 

6  30 

0  59 

67  14 

3  41 

0  86 

14  15 

12  49 

1  95 

73  60 

2  58 

£  97 

10  54 

10  11 

2  20 

87  58 

3  22 

0  81 

3  98 

3  13 

1.28 

74  5J 

2.78 

052 

11.17 

8  76 

2.24 

Annual  Rye  Grass... 

69.00 

2.96 

0.69 

12.89 

12.47 

1.99 

ANALYSIS  OF  NATURAL  GRASSES.     (100  PARTS  OF  THE  GRASSES  DRIED  AT 

212°  FAHRENHEIT.) 


NAME  OF  GRASS. 

Albuminous  or 
Flesh  Forming 
Principles. 

2 
5 

jit! 

1 

I 

Mineral  Matter 
or  Ash. 

10.43 

3.41 

43.48 

36.36 

6.32 

Meadow  Foxtail  tT^X  ^  

,  12.32 

2.92 

43.12 

33.83 

7.81 

Tall  Oat  Grass  A^  / 

12  95 

3.19 

38.03 

34.24 

11.59 

Yellow  Oat  Grass  ^r*  ^  

7.48 

2.61 

47.08 

35.95 

6.88 

7.97 

239 

49.78 

34.64 

522 

6.08 

3.01 

4695 

35.30 

8.66 

Upright  Brome  Grass  .TJ**  &+••••  »•**•• 

9.44 
17.29 

3.33 
2.11 

82 
38.66 

02 
36.12 

5.21 
5.82 

Crested  Dog-s-tail  £g,  t7?t...  ..%T..... 

11.08 
13.53 

3.54 
3.14 

52.64 
44.32 

26.36 
33.70 

6.38 
5.31 

Orchard  Grass,  seeds  ripe  .t>t  ^*.  T  
Hard  Fescue  Grass  ^  -^  *  

23.08 
12.10 
11  52 

1.56 
3.34 
3.56 

26.53 
40.43 
39.25 

43.32 
38  71 
39.30 

5.51 
5.42 

6.37 

11.17 

2.30 

46.68 

31.67 

6.18 

Perennial  Rye  Grass                                /•»•<    ....^T.i  

11.85 

3  17 

42.24 

35.20 

7.54 

Italian  Rye  Grass                                      .      

10.10 

3.27 

5782 

19.76 

9.05 

Timothy                                             

11.36 

3.55 

53.35 

26.46 

528 

11.83 

3.42 

61.70 

30.22 

283 

10.35 

2.63 

43.06 

38.02 

5.94 

Rough  Stalked  Meadow  

9.80 

3.67 

40.17 

38.03 

8.33 

25.91 

6.53 

32.05 

25.14 

10.37 

10.92 

2.06 

4390 

34.30 

8.82 

Bermuda  Grass  

12.00 

Rave 

nel. 

6.50 

28 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and 


ANALYSIS   OF  AETIFICIAL   GRASSES.      (100  PARTS  AS  TAKEN  FROM  THE 

FIELD.) 


NAME  OF  PLANT. 

1 

Albuminous  or 
Flesh  Forming 
Principles. 

Fatty  Matters. 

bfi 

C             rT 

1  s  §  ~ 
1^e  . 

1 

£ 

Si     M 
Q    O 

c 

R°d  Clover  

81.01 

4.27 

.69 

8  45 

3  76 

1  82 

Perennial  Clover  

81  05 

3  64 

.78 

8  04 

4  91 

1  58 

Crimson  Clover  

82.14 

2.96 

.67 

6  70 

5  78 

1  75 

Cow  Grass  

74.10 

6  30 

.92 

942 

6  25 

3  01 

77  57 

4  22 

1  07 

11  14 

4  23 

1  77 

Hop  Trefoil 

83  48 

3  39 

77 

7  25 

3  74 

1  37 

White  Clover 

79  71 

3  80 

.89 

8  14 

5  38 

2  08 

Common  Vetch      .  ... 

82  90 

404 

.52 

6  75 

4  68 

1  11 

Sainfoin  ..              .       ..      .     .. 

76.64 

4.32 

.70 

10  73 

5  77 

1  84 

Lucerne   or  Alfalfa  

69.95 

3  83 

82 

13  62 

8  74 

3  04 

Black  Medick.  or  Nonsuch... 

76.80 

5.70 

.94 

7.73 

6.32 

2.51 

ANALYSIS  OF  ARTIFICIAL  GRASSES,  (IN  100  PARTS  OF  THE  GRASS  DRIED 

AT  212°  FAHR.) 


*$ 

£ 

1  s  a" 

6 

o> 

a 

'£.    G 
0    o    * 

£ 

~  H  5  -2 

o  »*H  rn  o^ 

M 

^  -^ 

NAME  OF  PLANT. 

a 

;X|  ec  ^  iT 

—  "*i 

c  _  •2"' 

>-> 

-^>  ^*  "o  tc 

"O 

t*       rt 

J  S.1 

"i 

o 

0 

c 

^£  cL 

EM 

^.5^° 

f£ 

1 

Red  Clover  

22.55 

3  67 

4447 

19  75 

9  56 

Perennial  Clover  

19  18 

4  09 

42.42 

25  96 

8  35 

Crimson  Clover  

16.60 

3.73 

37.50 

32.39 

9  78 

Cow  Grass 

24  33 

3  57 

36  36 

24  14 

11  60 

18  77 

4  77 

49  65 

18  84 

7  97 

Hop  Trefoil  

20  48 

4  67 

43  86 

22  66 

8  33 

White  Clover  

18  76 

4  38 

40  04 

26  53 

10  29 

Common  Vetch  .      .... 

23.61 

306 

39  45 

27  38 

6  50 

1845 

3  01 

4596 

2471 

7  87 

Lucerne  or  Alfalfa  

12.76 

2.76 

40.16 

3421 

10  11 

Black  Medick... 

24.60 

4.06 

33.31 

27-19 

10.84 

Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


29 


SUGGESTIONS  AS  TO  THE  SELECTION  OF  A 
GRASS  OR  STOCK  FARM. 

There  seems  to  be  little  to  choose  as  to  cli- 
mate. At  the  South  in  each  of  the  planta- 
tion States  we  have  three  different  climates — 
that  of  the  mountains,  the  interior  and  the 
coast.  For  live  stock  the  mountains  have 
the  advantage  in  summer,  the  low  country  in 
the  winter,  while  the  middle  country  has  a 
share  of  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
both,  without  the  special  excellencies  or 
defects  of  either. 

As  a  general  rule  a  clay  soil  is  best  suited 
to  growing  good  grass  A  soil  with  a  good 
deal  of  sand  may,  however,  by  manuring,  be 
made  to  yield  very  good  grass.  A  piece  of 
worn  and  unraanured  sandy  land  will  pro- 
duce a  light  crop  of  crab-grass  ;  the  same  soil 
well  manured  will  produce  a  heavy  crop  of 
that  grass.  The  soil  that  will  yield  a  heavy 
crop  of  crab-grass  will  be  pretty  certain  to 
produce  a  good  crop  of  other  upland  grasses. 
Still,  other  things  being  equal,  the  clay  soil 
is  to  be  preferred. 

The  lands  most  likely  in  the  judgment  of 
the  writer  to  produce  heavy  crops  of  Timothy 
and  Herd's  grass  hay,  are  the  rice  lands  of 
the  coast.  They  are  very  rich,  and  have  am- 
ple command  of  water.  If  the  rice  planters 
would  apply  to  their  land  the  agricultural 
system  of  Lombardy,  they  would  attain  a 
value  of  which  they  have  not  dreamed.  Do 
they  know  that  the  Marcite,  or  lands  in  grass 
irrigated  in  winter  near  Milan,  rent  for  from 
$60  to  $100  per  acre,  while  hay  sells  at  $10 
per  ton  ? 

After  the  rice  lands,  the  best  meadow  lands 
of  the  South  have  been  as  yet  almost  wholly 
untouc'ied  by  the  ax  or  plow.  Reference  is 
made  to  the  immense  bodies  of  bottom  land 
sometimes  from  five  to  eight  miles  wide  on  our 
rivers,  after  they  pass  from  the  rolling  lands 
into  the  flat  country.  These  lands  are  suffi- 
ciently rich,  sufficiently  moist,  and  are  usually 
of  a  compact  nature.  Being  too  low  for  culti- 
vation in  cotton  and  corn,  they  have  been  left 
uncleared.  They  are  worth  now  generally  not 
more  than  one  dollar  per  acre — converted  into 
meadow  they  would  pay  a  heavy  interest  on 
$200  Where  they  are  not  within  reach  of 
railroads  the  hay  can  usually  be  taken  cheaply 
to  market  by  steamer  or  flat-bottomed  boats. 
The  wealth  of  the  South  is  to  be  largely  in- 
creased from  this  now  useless  source. 

Nothing  is  said  of  the  range  portions  of  the 
South,  because  where  there  isanexclusivereli- 
ance  upon  the  range,  nothing  but  range  stock 
can  be  sustained.  The  object  of  this  Manual 
is  to  give  suggestions  as  to  the  rearing  of  good 
live  stock  and  the  cultivation  of  good  grass 
for  hay  or  pasture. 

If  hay  is  the  chief  object,  proximity  to  mar- 
ket or  river  or  railway  transportation  is  a  ma- 
terial object.  If  summer  and  winter  pasture  is 


the  leading  featufe,  proximity  to  market  is 
not  so  important,  as  stock  can  be  cheaply 
driven. 

Upon  grass  farms  sheep  and  cattle  are  the 
most  profitable  stock.  Colts  and  hogs  require 
too  much  grain. 

A.  level  surface  of  upland,  without  running 
water,  with  an  excess  of  sand,  is  the  most 
unsuitable  for  a  grass  farm,  and  of  course  for 
stock-raising. 

The  perfection  of  a  grass  farm,  so  far  as 
natural  requisites  are  concerned,  are  enough 
bottom  land  to  yield  the  meadow  hay  that  is 
required  for  sale  or  consumption,  enough  level 
land  to  meet  the  home  necessities  of  grain,  and 
also  for  lucerne,  and  the  rest  rich  broken  land. 
In  our  climate  the  steeper  the  hills  of  our  pas- 
ture lands  the  better,  provided  they  may  be  . 
rich.  The  reason  of  this  is  that  in  summer 
the  grass  will  be  exposed  to  the  sun  only  a 
portion  of  the  day,  and  in  winter  the  north 
hillsides  are  always  most  natural  to  grass, 
and  the  south  sides  give  stock  a  sufficiently 
warm  exposure. 

To  young  men  at  the  South  entering  upon 
agricultural  life,  grass  farms  offer  great  induce- 
ments. They  require  so  little  labor  and  so 
little  outlay.  If  a  young  man  begins  with  ex- 
clusive cotton  culture,  he  must  buy  a  number 
of  mules  and  farm  implements.  He  must  lay 
in  a  stock  of  food  for  his  mules  and  laborers. 
This  requires  much  ready  money  or  running 
into  debt. 

These  expenses  are  largely  avoided  on  a 
grass  farm.  If  a  return  must  be  had  the  first 
year,  grass  seeds  can  be  sown  with  small  grain 
—the  whole  expense  is  then  the  cost  of  the 
grass  seed.  Afterwards  the  farm  will  provide 
for  all  its  own  expenses.  The  commencement 
of  a  stock  of  sheep  and  cattle  is  a  trifle  as  com- 
pared with  the  cost  of  a  number  of  mules  and 
food  for  them. 

The  pleasure  of  life  on  a  grass  farm  is  in- 
comparably greater  than  on  a  plantation  de- 
voted exclusively  to  cotton.  The  latter  exacts 
our  whole  time;  the  former  gives  leisure  for 
reading,  study,  and  the  amenities  of  social 
life. 

The  indolent  negro  is  a  constant  thorn  in 
the  side  of  the  cotton  planter.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  rise  before  day  to  fret  at  our  live  stock 
because  they  will  not  eat  and  grow,  or  with 
the  grass  because  it  will  not  shoot  up  its 
beautiful  green  blades  in  the  spring-time. 
Neither  the  stock  nor  the  grass  quarrel  with 
us  at  Christmas  about  wages  or  their  share  of 
the  crop,  or  threaten  to  carry  us  before  a 
magistrate. 

CONCLUSION. 

Sound  political  economy  requires  that  the 
South  should  raise  its  own  horses,  mules, 
sheep,  cattle  and  hogs,  and  prod  ce  its  own 
wool,  butter,  cheese  and  hay.  When  we  add 


30 


Cultivation  of  the  Grasses  and  Forage  Plants  at  the  South. 


these  products  to  our  cotton  and  rice  and 
sugar,  we  shall,  perhaps,  live  more  independ- 
ently than  any  other  people  in  Christendom. 
Grass  culture  is  the  basis  of  this  independ- 
ence. It  is  a  dictate  of  philanthropy,  as  well 
as  a  suggestion  of  interest,  to  promote  it.  If 


this  Ifttle  Manual,  making  no  display,  using 
no  scientific  terms,  but  as  popular  as  simple 
language  could  make  it,  shall  have  assisted  in 
the  most  humble  manner  in  the  attainment  of 
this  end,  it  will  have  fully  answered  the  pur- 
pose of  the  writer. 


L  1  J>  It  A  U  V 

IV  KKS  ITY    OK 


High  Grade  English  Fertilizers, 

CON  ENTRATEB  SUPERPHOSPHATE  OF  LIME.   • 

This  article,  manufactured  in  England,  is  the  highest  grade  ACID  PHOSPHATE  ever 
offered  for  sale  in  this  country. 

Every  ton  is  guaranteed  to  contain  80  per  cent,  of  Soluble  or  available  Phosphateof  Lime, 
and  the  shipments  received  contain  as  high  as  90  per  cent.,  as  analyzed  by  Professor  C.  U. 
Shepard.  As  400  Ibs.,  containing  90  per  cent,  available  Phosphate  of  Lime,  will  go  as  far 
in  making  compost  or  artificial  manure  as  one  ton  of  Acid  Phosphate,  with  18  per  cent, 
available,  the  saving  in  cost  of  freight  and  handling  will  be  very  great. 

It  is  put  up  in  barrels,  and  the  price  is  ^11O  Oti«li,  per  ton  of  2,000  pounds,  or 
Times,  approved  security. 


THE  ALBION,  OR  ENGLISH  COTTON  FERTILIZER, 

Manufactured  by  the  above  Company,  is  a  highly  Ammoniated  Superphosphate,  made 
specially  for  Cotton,  and  is  one  of  the  highest  grade  manures  offered  in  this  market ;  the 
per  centage  of  Soluble  Phosphate  of  Lime  and  Ammonia,  the  two  most  important  constitu- 
ents, being  unusually  large. 

Price  $55  Cash,  per  ton  of  2,000  Ibs.,  and  $65   Time,  approved  security. 

W.  C.  COURTNEY  &  CO.,  Agents, 

FACTORS  AND  COMMISSION  MERCHANTS, 

3  Boyce's  Wharf,  Charleston,  8.  C. 


OF  CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 

WILLIAMS,  BLACK  &  WILLIAMS,  Agents, 

COTTON  FACTORS  AND  COMMISSION  MERCHANTS, 

No.  3  Cotton  Exchange,  South  Atlantic  Wharf. 

WILLIAMS,  BLACK  &  CO., 

TNo.  1   WI3L,:L,IA.M:    HT11EET,  -  NEW   YORK. 

THE  STOITO  "FERTILIZERS, 

Carefully  prepared  under  the  special  supervision  of  our  Chemist,  Dr.  ST.  JULIEN  KAVENKL, 
are  offered  at  the  following  Reduced  Rates  : 

SOLUBLE  GUANO  (thoroughly  Ammoniated,)  payable  April  1st,  $46  5  payable, 
ber  1st,  without  interest,  $53. 

ACID  PHOSPHATE,  Cash,  as  above,  $30;  Time,  as  above,  $35.     With  Cotton  option, 
on  basis  of  Liverpool  Middlings  at  16  cents  per  pound,  delivered  at  nearest  Railroad  Depot, 
on  or  before  November  15th,  as  follows  :  Soluble  Guano— Time,  $60.     Acid  Phosphate 
Time,  $40.     Drayage,  $1  per  ton,  unless  ordered  by  the  Car  load  (8  tons.) 

j^=>  Special  Rates  will  le  made  with  purchasers  *or  Cash, 
on  orders  of  one  or  more  Car  loads.    Address 

E.  C.  WILLIAMS,  Treasurer, 

January  1st,  1875.  KeV  Box  486' 


ETIWAN  FERTILIZERS. 


A  first  class  Fertilizer  for  Cotton,  Wheat,  Tobacco,  Grass,  Vegetables, 

and  Flowers. 

ETIWAN  DISSOLVED  BONE, 

The  highest  grade  of  Phosphoric  Acid  offered  by  any  Fertilizer  ;  and, 
therefore,  the  cheapest  and  best  material  for  compost. 

Agents  at  all  usual  railroad  deliveries,  and  at  seaports,  will  furnish  further 
details. 


wntE.  c 


Greneral 


*  s.  o. 


constantly  in  stock 

ALL  KINDS  OF  SEEDS; 

FOR  THE  FIELD  AND  GARDEN, 

Address  them,  Nashville,  Tennessee. 


Mark  W.  Johnson,  Woodruff  &  Co. 


SEE3DS3VCEJST, 
CTT  A  .  ,     Cr  E  Q  !Ft 


1,000  bushels  RED  CLOVER,  100  bushels  Crimson  Annual  Clover,  50  bushels  White  Clover,  2,000 
pounds  Lucerne,  or  Alfafa,  500  bushels  German  Millet  Seed,  1,000  bushels  Orchard  Grass,  1,000  bush- 
els Red  Top  or  Herd's,  1,000  bushels  Blue  Grass,  1,000  bushels  Timothy,  100  bushels  Tall  Meadow  Oat 
Gras*,  250  bushels  Perennial  Rye  Grass,  500  bushels  Hungarian  Grass,  or  Millet,  1,000  pounds  Cat 
Tail  Millet  (Green  Food,)  500  bushels  assorted  Grasses  of  other  varieties,  besides  those  named  above. 
5,000  bushels  Seed  Oats.  We  also  have  a  large  st  >ck  of  Garden,  Field,  and  Flower  Seeds,  Bone  Dust, 
Land  Plaster,  Ammonia,  Soda,  Potash,  Kainits,  Lime,  <fcc.  Also,  Agricultural  Implements,  Wagons, 
Buggies,  Carriages,  <fcc.  Send  for  Price  List.  TERMS  CASH. 


18S9. 


The  Rural  Carolinian. 


ILLUSTRATED 


MONTHLY 


Agricultural 


MAGAZINE, 


LEADING 

SOUTHERN 

AGRICULTURAL 

PERIODICAL 


AND 


PORTRAITS  OF  PROMINENT  PATROl  OF  HIR11RY, 

A  FEATURE  OF  THE 

RURAL   CAROLINIAN. 


The  RURAL,  CAROLINIAN  is  the  leading  Agricultural  Journal  of  the  South.  Publisher!  and 
Editors  are  all  Southern  men,  and  it  is  devoted  exclusiTely  to  the  interests  of  Southern  Agriculture.  While 
it  is  not  the  paid  organ  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  or  any  society  or  set  of  men,  it  has  been  the  most 
powerful  advocate  for  the  establishment  of  Granges  in  the  South,  and  its  influence  has  contributed  greatly 
to  the  present  prosperity  of  the  Order. 

£  D.  H.  JACQUES,  ESQ.,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  Editor-in-Chief. 
CHARLES  R.  DODGE,  ESQ.,  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C.,  Entomological  Editor. 


CONTRIBUTORS. 


COL.  D.  WYATT  AIKEN,  Washington,  D.  C. 
HENRY  W.  RAVENEL,  ESQ.,  Alken,  8.  C. 


Biv.  C.  W.  HOWARD,  Kingston  Ga. 
COL.  N.  H.  DAVIS,  Greenville,  S.  C. 


POSTAGE,  10  CENTS.    SPECIMEN  COPIES,  20  CENTS. 

,  EVANS  &  COGSWELL,  Publishers, 

OHIlA-IE^IDESTOlsr,   S.   O. 


This  establishment  has  been  conducted  by  its  present  proprietor  since  1857. 
Its  area  is  now  of  such  extent  that  we  are  enabled  to  offer  the  largest  and 
most  varied  stock  of 


Ornamental  Trees,  Shrubs,  Roses,  etc.,  etc., 

IN  THE  SOUTHERN  STATES. 

The  collection  of  Fruits  and  Plants  are  most  extensive,  and  have  been 
selected  with  careful  reference  to  the  Southern  climate.  An  intimate  know- 
ledge of  the  needs  of  Southern  Fruit  Culturists  is  a  guarantee  that  the 
interests  of  the  patrons  of  this  establishment  shall  be  faithfully  served. 

Catalogues  mailed  free,  by  addressing  as  above.  No.  1 — Fruit  and  Orna- 
mental Trees,  Koses,  Evergreens,  &c.  No.  2— Greenhouse,  Bedding  Plants, 
&c.  No.  3 — Wholesale  Price  List  for  the  Trade. 

No  Tree  Peddlers  connected  with  our  establishment. 


BELMOXTT    STOCK  FARM, 


,   GEORGIA. 


IFETIEIRS, 

IBIRJEIEIIDIEIR, 


Alderney  Cattle,  Spanish  Merino  Sheep,  Cashmere  Anpra  Goats, 

Essex  Swine,  Brown  Leghorn  and  Game  Fowk 

THE  GRASS  jatUESTION. 

Owing  to  the  increased  interest  manifested  throughout  the  cotton  growing 
States  and  the  great  necessity  for  a  diversified  agriculture,  we  were  induced 
last  fall  to  offer  a  Champion  Mowing  Machine  as  a  prize  for  the  best  Essay 
on  Grasses  and  Meadows  for  the  South.  There  was  a  liberal  response  from 
Georgia,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  and  Arkansas.  For  the  benefit  of  our  cus- 
tomers, we  publish  the  Essays  in  our  Catalogue,  that  every  means  may  be 
employed  to  recuperate  the  farming  interests  of  the  country.  Those  desiring 
to  sow  grasses  can  get  very  valuable  information  from  these  Essays,  and  we 
hope  thousands  may  reap  rich  harvests.  Send  for  Catalogue. 

We  are  indebted  to  Philips'  Southern  Farmer,  and  other  agricultural  jour- 
nals, for  the  publicity  given  this  offer. 

R.  G.  CRAIG  &  CO.,  Seedsmen, 

377  and  379  MAIN  STREET,  Memphis,  Torn*. 


North  Carolina  Agricultural  House  and  Harta  Store. 


ALLEN  A.  CO., 

DEALERS  IN 

HARDWARE  AND  FINE  EDGE  TOOLS,  CIRCULAR  &  CROSS-CUT  SAWS, 

Bubber  and  Leather  Belting,  Packing,  Lace  Leather, 

Carriage  Materials,  Amies,  Bolts,  Harness,    Saddlery,    Leather,  Iron, 

Cast  Steel  and  Plow  Steel,  Bagging,  Rope,  Iron  Ties,  Paint,  Oil,  Glass,  Varnish,  Putty, 
Brick,  Lime,   Cement,   Plaster,    Seines,    Net  Twine,  Turbine   Water   Wheels, 

Agricultural  Implements,  Cotton  Gins,  Cotton  Presses, 

HORSE   POWERS,  MOWERS   AND  REAPERS,  PLOWS,  HARROWS,  CULTI- 
VATORS, GIN  SEGMENTS*  BOLTS,  GUDGEONS,  STRAW  CUTTERS, 

Corn  Shellers,  Corn   and  Wheat  Fans,  Threshers,  Cider  Mills, 

COTTON  -PLANTERS,  GRAIN  JDRADLES,  PRASS  BLADES, 


Flow  Manvifaetu^ers, 

22  and  24  POLLOK  STREET,  NEWBERN,  N.  C. 


TO  THE  PRACTICAL  MTER  AND  FARMER! 

The  Book  needed  toy  every  Planter  and 

Farmer  who   desires  to  know  how  his 

Farming  Investment  Pays. 

THE  RURAL  ACCOUNTANT! 

A  COMPLETE  AND  SIMPLE  SYSTEM 


PLANTATION  &  FABM  ACCOUNTS, 

CONTENTS  —  A  Plan  of  the  Farm,  Gestation 
Account,  General  Accounts,  Inventory  of 
Farm  Investment,  Time  Rolls  for  Each 
Month,  Cash  Account,  Crop  Accounts, 
Memoranda.  Prefaced  by  a  full  and  com- 
plete explanation  of  the  book;  also,  comprising 
a  selection  of  practical  information  needed 
every  day  on  the  farm. 

GREATLY  REDUCED  PRICES. 

PRICE—  Small  Size  -  -  -  $1.00 
Large  Size  -  -  -  1.50 

Sent  per  mail  postage  prepaid. 

Liberal  reductions  to  Granges  and  Clubs 
ordering  quantities. 

PUBLISHES  BY 

WALKER,  EVANS  &  COGSWELL, 

PUBLISHERS   RURAL  CAROLINIAN, 
Stationers,    Printers,  and    Binders, 

HO*,   $   BROAD   AND    109   EA8T  BAY  8TREET8, 


FINE  PAPERS 


The    demand    for 
FINE  PAPERS 

warrants  us  in  keep- 
ing a  large  stock  of 
all  the  new  and 

ELEGANT  KINDS 


MONOGRAMS,  Engraved  and  Stamped  in  Blank  and 
Colors. 

INITIAL  LETTERS  Stamped  on  Paper. 

CARD  ETIQUETTE,  a  Book  on  the  forms  and  fashions 
of  Cards,  Wedding  Invitations,  General  Invita- 
tions, Ac.,  mailed  to  any  address  free  on  receipt 
of  three  cent  postage  stamp. 

WEDDING  INVITATIONS  and  VISITING  CARDS,  pre- 
pared in  the  most  elegant  style. 

Everything  as  Cheap  as  in  Baltimore,  Philadel- 
phia, or  New  York. 

WALKER,  E7ANS  &  COGSWELL, 

Manufacturing   Stationers, 

Charleston,  S.  C. 


OF 


Grasses  and  Forage  Plants. 

ORCHARD  GRASS,  TIMOTHY,  HERDS  GRASS,  (Red  Top,)  TALL 

OAT  GRASS,  ALFALFA,  or  LUCERNE,  PEA  VINE, 

and  MEDIUM  CLOVERS. 

Field  and  Garden  Seeds  of  all  the  Best  and  Cleanest  sorts. 

SENT>     Jb'OR,    PRICES. 

Samples  and  Catalogues  sent  FRKE,  by  mail,  to  all  applicants. 

PERUVIAN  GUANO,  BONE  DUST,  AND  OTHER  FERTILIZERS. 

II*  H»  Aldhlilf  4k  €$0»» 

\& 

P.  O.  Box  376.  189  &  191  WATER  STREET,  NEW  YORK, 

HARYESTIHGlMPLEMEHTS. 

MOWING  AND  REAPING  MACHINES, 
HORSE  BAKES,  HORSE  HAY  FORKS, 

HAY  AND  GRAIN  STACKING  IMPLEMENTS, 

THRESHERS  AND  SEPARATORS,  CORN  HUSKERS  AND  SHELLERS, 

SEED  SOWERS,  for  Horse  or  Hand  Power, 

LIME  AND  PLASTER  SOWERS,  FIELD  AND  GRAIN  DRILLS,  which  sow  Wheat 
and  other  grain,  either  alone  or  with  Fertilizer. 

PLOWS,  upwards  of  100  different  sizes  and  patterns.  Prices  from  $2.50  up.  We  would 
call  particular  attention  to  ihe  celebrated  "BEE"  PLOWS,  our  new  steel  patterns,  which  are 
not  only  lighter,  but  stronger  and  more  enduring  than  cast-iron,  and  they  never  clog  in  clay 
soil. 

MINER'S  CELEBRATED  SUB-SOIL  PLOW,  CHAIN  SCOTCH,  FRIEDMAN,  and 
other  Harrow  Cultivators,  wilh  steel  or  cast-iron  teeth,  of  various  patterns. 

The  largest  and  most  complete  assortment  of  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Implements 
in  America. 

Peruvian  Guano,  Bone  Dust,  Superphosphate  and  other  Fertilizers. 

Improved  Live  Stock! 

THOROUGH-BRED  ROAD  AND  DRAFT  HORSES, 

Short-Horn,  (Durham,)  Devon,  teey,  (Alierney,)  Gnrnsey,  Ayrshire, 

and  Palled  Cattle. 

For  Beef,  for  Milk,  for  Butter,  for  Labor. 

BERKSHIRE,  ESSEX,  AND  POLAND  CHINA  SWINE, 

Which  are  better  than  the  white  breeds  for  the  South. 

LONG  WOOLS,  DOWNS,  &  MERINO  SHEEP. 
POULTRY,  of  all  kinds. 

All  selected  from  the  best  breeders  in  the  country,  and  shipped  from  New  York,  to  any 
accessible  Port  or  Railway  Station  in  the  South. 


P.  O.  Box  376, 

189  &  191  Water  Street,  NEW  YORK  CITY, 


»-*TTNIVERSITY'OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY, 

BERKELEY 


ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
D  BELOW 

Jooks  not  returned  on  time  are  subject  to  a  fine  of 
50c  per  volume  after  the  third  day  overdue,  increasing 
to  $1.00  per  volume  after  the  sixth  day.  Books  not  in 
demand  may  be  renewed  if  application  is  made  beforr 
expiration  of  loan  period. 


U/927 

[.... 
SENT  ON  ILL 

JUH  2  7  1997 

U.C.BERKELEY 


50m-8,'26 


Manufactured  bit 

GAYLORD  BROS.  Inc. 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Stockton,  Calif. 


